25 Jul 2016

Offer Accepted: Liverpool close to agreeing £6m transfer for 'brilliant' international. Transfer Talks this week

After a number of recent departures, it's clear that Liverpool's academy is currently being pruned, and Brad Smith is the latest player to end up on the wrong side of Jurgen Klopp's Anfield shears.

According to ESPN:

"Liverpool have accepted a £6m offer from Bournemouth for Brad Smith, sources from both clubs have told ESPN FC. Smith is set to return to England [for LFC's US Tour] to hold talks with the Cherries".

In March, Harry Redknapp hailed Smith as a 'threat' and predicted that he'd become a 'big player for Liverpool in the future', but at the time, I argued:

"I get the feeling that Smith will go the same way as Teixeira, i.e. constantly on the fringes of the first team before realising that he's wasting his time".

It's been clear for months that Klopp - for whatever reason - doesn't rate Smith, so this comes as absolutely no surprise whatsoever. That said, Smith's marginalisation is hard to understand given his consistently solid performances (when given the chance to play, that is).

What makes Klopp's manifest apathy even more ridiculous is that Smith is deemed to be trustworthy enough to play important World Cup qualifiers for Australia, but is, apparently, not good enough to be a back-up defender for Liverpool.

If given a proper chance, Smith might've been an asset for Liverpool this season, but when all is said and done, it's hard to argue with a £6m fee for an academy player, and I can understand why the Reds have (seemingly) decided to take the money.


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