One of the surprise signings for us this summer was of Dominic Solanke from Chelsea. The youngster didn’t really get a lot of playing time under a number of managers at Stamford Bridge and moving to Liverpool has seen him make a handful of appearances while also make his debut for the England national team.
However, his lack of playing time for Liverpool has come under fire from a number of quarters and Aston Villa manager, Steve Bruce, has come out and stated that Solanke should think about his future at the Merseyside club.
While Solanke has only made one start for us this season, which was in the loss against Leicester City at the Carabao Cup, Bruce believes that the youngster should go out on loan.
The Aston Villa manager was quoted by the Mirror as saying:
“We need the larger clubs to have associations with the smaller ones. Feeder clubs? Yes. The general consensus is that the Under-23s isn’t quite working.
“If you play when you are 18 and you are successful, you need the next step.”
Bruce then went crazy on Liverpool and berated the situation with Solanke.
“At the moment, we’ve got the ludicrous situation of Solanke playing for England when he’s hardly had a game with Liverpool. That can’t be right. We have young players all over the country doing well – but not playing.
“Surely any young, talented player would prefer turning out for the likes of Forest Green, Bury, Oldham Athletic – you’re better playing there for three months and learning your trade than in the Under-23s.
“I think something like a draft system could work. Loans definitely benefit parent clubs.”
While Bruce does make a point, sending Solanke on loan might not do him all that good when he has spent a number of years away from Chelsea playing for a number of top-level clubs across Europe.
Bruce might just be upset that he wants to sign players for Villa as he looks to take them back to the Premier League but for now, Solanke should remain at Anfield and learn more under the tutelage of Jurgen Klopp.
We should, however, send out a few players, for them to gain experience, especially the ones who are not getting regular playing time, such as Ben Woodburn or Marko Grujic, who need to play more to get better.
Liverpool do have a lot of quality players and sending some of them on loan should be on the mind of Klopp but that should not be the move now with Solanke, who would play a huge role for us during the festive period, where the fixture list would be hectic.
https://youtu.be/zgHiI9xxjU0
