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Klopp Keeps Loan Options Open For Liverpool Youths

There have been rumors about Ben Woodburn and Marko Grujic going out on loan, but Klopp believes most youth prospects will stay on Merseyside.

Liverpool FC Training Session and Press Conference Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images

To take a break from Virgil van Dijk wall-to-wall coverage, it is as good a time as any to talk about possible outgoings. Not that possible outgoing (fuck off, Barcelona). No, there have been rumors about loaning out some of our most promising young talents for the second half of the season.

The likes of Marko Grujic, Ben Woodburn, and others are (for understandable reasons!) having a tough time breaking through to the first team. However, if Jürgen Klopp has loan plans for these talented prospects, he is keeping those plans close to his chest for now.

“We will see. These boys are all really close – much closer than you can see when I do the squad,” Klopp explained to the club’s website.

“We have to decide at one point if it makes sense that they stay. For a lot of them, it makes sense that they stay here because we need them. For a few, maybe it makes a little bit less sense.

“We will see – nothing is decided so far. We will see which clubs are asking and then we have to make a decision whether it is good for the boy or not and all these things.

“But, really, for most of them there will be no transfer window. They will stay here.”

This is keeping in line with his stance since coming to Liverpool that youth players are often better served training in the Liverpool system than turfed out to get playing time elsewhere.

We could imagine that a great deal of these plans depend on Liverpool’s FA Cup run. By the end of January, Liverpool could either be in the 5th round proper, facing a 4th round replay (Dear Fowler, no), or out of the competition altogether. If they are still in the competition, it would be easy to imagine some youth players getting first team minutes in the cup. If not, perhaps loans for the rest of the season are the best option for some players.

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