Liverpool to Terminate Billy Koumetio’s Loan with Austria Wien

In the summer of 2020, a 17-year-old Billy Koumetio was one of the standouts in pre-season for Liverpool. Two summers later, with a lot of reserve playing time as well as two first team appearances under his belt, he headed to Austria Wien in search of first team minutes.

However, that loan has turned out to be a disappointing and difficult one for the player, as Koumetio has played in just five of their 16 Austrian Bundesliga games—and just 325, or 23%, of the 1440 league minutes available—to date. As a result, Liverpool intend to recall the player.

That’s the story from Sky Austria this week, with Wien sporting director Manuel Ortlechner stating that there is a 99% certainty the player’s time in the Austrian Bundesliga is now set to come to a premature end due to a loan recall.

“I have a phone call to Liverpool later because they would like to bring Koumetio back,” Ortlechner said. “We still think he is an incredibly exciting player; he can have an exciting career. But Liverpool want to bring him back. We still have to clarify, but there is a 99% chance Billy Koumetio will no longer play for Austria Wien.”

Koumetio struggled to settle in Austria under manager Manfred Schmid, who left a club mired in mid-table in December. Michael Wimmer has since been appointed but it appears the player will not get the chance to try to improve his position under a new manager.