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When Andre Wisdom signed a new four-year deal at the end of last season, some imagined that it meant the 22-year-old was in Brendan Rodgers’ first team plans for the coming season. Instead, it now appears a move mostly about ensuring the defender’s long-term resale value, as reliable reports have Wisdom on the verge of a move to newly promoted Norwich City.
According to the Liverpool Echo and others, Wisdom’s Norwich move is expected to be a loan, which may signal Liverpool still hope that he can develop into a player who can make a difference at the club. It won’t be this season, though, with Norwich set to pay a £1.25M loan fee to take Wisdom on for the season. He has previously spent time on loan with Derby County and West Brom.
Though Wisdom has looked a promising talent, he seems stuck between positions at Liverpool—not fast enough to have a future at fullback, where he has spent much of his time in recent seasons, but too far down the pecking order at centre half to be in the running for minutes. It didn’t help, either, that 18-year-old Joe Gomez arrived this summer and impressed massively during pre-season.
Gomez may still be a little raw, but he’s got four years on Wisdom and appears far better suited to getting minutes filling in at fullback while he hones his defensive instincts. If there ever was a thought of Wisdom sticking with the first team this season, Gomez’ showing in Australia and Southeast Asia will have put an end to that and had Liverpool actively searching for a club to take on Wisdom.
Wisdom signed with Liverpool from Bradford City as a 14-year-old and has impressed consistently at the youth levels. He has made 22 senior appearances for Liverpool to date and 86 combined in all competitions for Derby and West Brom.
