Liverpool Under-23s manager Neil Critchley says that Harry Wilson has a bright future at Anfield and the youngster will not be hurried into first-team action. The youngster was close to a summer loan move but an injury to the forward put paid to those hopes.
Talking to the media ahead of the U-23s’ encounter with Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield, Critchley revealed that Liverpool have high hopes of the youngster and will soon assess the 20-year-old with a view of a temporary move in the January transfer window.
Wilson was one of the brightest talents coming out of Liverpool last season and he raised the pitch with 28 goals for the U23s in 2016-17. Excitement rose within Anfield as the club chiefs started contemplating a loan move in the summer to expedite his learning.
But, Wilson picked up an Achilles injury in the pre-season that is keeping him out of action until the end of this month.
“You can have ideas. I suppose a plan is difficult to stick to because you’re reliant on maybe others clubs or people coming in for Harry on loan,” said Critchley, as quoted by ESPN.
“But with him being injured, that put that plan to bed for a little while. I’m sure we’ll revisit that in January.
“If he would have been injury-free in preseason then maybe that would have happened prior to the window closing. It hasn’t. He wasn’t ready for that.
“He’s been fantastic for us. He’s hit the ground running. It will do him no harm in building his confidence and playing for us in the next few months. Then when we get to January, I’m sure we’ll revisit his plan for the future again.”
The Under-23 captain had a poor loan spell at Crewe Alexandra during the 2015-16 season although he got back into contention last year.
The youngster made his Liverpool debut when he was brought in as a substitute in the FA Cup replay at Plymouth Argyle last year. He even became the youngest player to have turned up for Wales, when he was called up to Chris Coleman’s squad for the World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland.
Jurgen Klopp has already given chances to a lot of academy graduates. Players like Ben Woodburn and Trent Alexander-Arnold have already got a taste of first-team football.
It was expected that the youngster would get more minutes last season – he got just 25 minutes of first-team action and made the matchday squad on just three occasions. Although there are fears that his path to the first-team could be blocked, Klopp still rates Wilson highly and that is reason enough for optimism.
Let’s hope that the youngster gets back on the field and continues to impress because Wilson is one name you are sure to hear a lot at Anfield in the coming years.
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