9 Sept 2016

Anfield Smackdown: 'Brave' €25m Spaniard reveals frustration with 'Liverpool' transfer; hints he didn't feel 'wanted'

After an unproductive year at Liverpool, Javier Manquillo resurrected his career at Marseille last season, and after sealing another loan move to the Premier League this week, it's clear that the Spaniard still harbours (understandable) frustration over his experience at Anfield.

Speaking to reporters after signing for Sunderland, Manquillo^ mused:

“I played 42 games last season [and] that has given me a lot of experience I unfortunately did not get at Liverpool. The major difference is the manager [David Moyes] made me feel wanted".

Manquillo has a right to feel aggrieved. From January 2015 until the end of the season, Brendan Rodgers granted him just 137 minutes of football, which roughly equated to a 1.5 games in five months.

Obviously, it's difficult for any player to genuinely progress with such measly game-time.

When asked in May 2015 why he continually snubbed Manquillo, Rodgers told reporters:

“When the system changed it was obviously a little more difficult for him. He hasn’t played much...but a lot of that has been due to the system change. Hopefully he comes back in pre-season and can work well and work his way into the team.”

Unfortunately, Manquillo - who reportedly has a staggering €25m buyout clause in his Atletico Madrid contract - didn't offer much going forward, so playing him as a right-wing back was a non-starter; however, it still seemed unduly harsh to restrict him to just 137 minutes of football in 5 months, especially given all the injuries that season.

The failure to utilise Manquillo underlined (yet again) Liverpool's lamentable performance in the loan market. This was especially evident under Rodgers, and so far, Klopp has continued the trend of signing duff players on loan.

Described by Steven Gerrard as 'brave and ambitious'.


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