30 Oct 2015

Secret Trip: Klopp confirms he 'went to watch' exciting attacker last week. Transfer recall in January?

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has confirmed that he's monitoring the progress of Academy attacker Sheyi Ojo, who is currently in the midst of a season-long loan at Wolves.

In his pre-Chelsea press conference today, Klopp told reporters:

“Of course I am looking at the loan players. When I have time I watch these players. I went to Wolverhampton to watch Ojo but he didn’t play!"

Klopp must be referring to Wolves' recent 3-0 League Cup defeat at Middlesbrough, which is the only game this season in which Ojo has not featured.

That game aside, the 18-year old winger - described on Liverpool's official website as a 'nightmare' for defenders - is doing well at Wolves this season:

* 6 goals/assists in 14 apps (goal/assist every 2.3 games)

* Contributes a goal or an assist every 100 minutes of game time.

Not bad at all, and Ojo appears to be enjoying himself at Wolves. Earlier this month, he enthused:

“It’s going well and I feel that I’m a lot more mature in the way that I play. The Championship is a very hard league to play in, but I’m really enjoying it, and just taking each game as it comes"

Ojo is gunning for a place in Liverpool's first team, though, and he's hoping to follow in the footsteps of Jordon Ibe and Raheem Sterling:

"Them [Sterling and Ibe] being in the first team gives me hope that it could be me if I do well. Hopefully, when I am back at Liverpool I’m an improved player ready to be involved with the first team.”

Liverpool are desperately short of dedicated wingers, so it makes sense for the Reds to keep tabs on Ojo.

Klopp is probably planning for the future, and he may be considering a January recall for the young attacker, who appears to be following Jordon's Ibe's career trajectory.

Ibe spent the first half of last season on-loan before being recalled in January, and there's every possibility that the same thing will happen with Ojo next year.

Steve McManaman certainly thinks that Ojo is destined for great things. In May, he told the Liverpool Echo:

“Sheyi (Ojo), Ryan Kent and Harry Wilson, when they attack players, they’re very, very confident and they’re playing very well. I think they’ve come on leaps and bounds this year, I’m really impressed. If anything they’re over-achieving"

It's always good to have a ready-made back-up plan, and if the worst happens, and Ibe goes rogue (like Sterling) and/or continues to struggle in front of goal, then Ojo is capable of providing serious competition.

Author: Jaimie K


0 Comments:

Post a Comment