Cos he wasn’t good enough. Sweeting or similar can probably give us a list of players whom we let go and have subsequently become good enough for our first team - it will be a very short list
3 Likes
10 games in top league is good threshold for any hope 
Looking at how Phillips and Williams have done with us, and how they perform when out on loan, I think there’s also a good argument to be made that in some cases, it’s also a matter of development being better with us, or that these players just have a specific ability that makes them suited for bit-part roles but not starting week in, week out.
Maybe there’s an alternate universe where Brewster didn’t get injured, and had a first-team debut with us, going on to save us the millions we spent on Núñez. Or maybe not. There’s certainly a part of me that’s wondering if perhaps we should have just let Awoniyi play that role, and if training and playing regularly under Jürgen would have changed his career completely.
1 Like
I was actually thinking of players that we let go and bought back later. We were apparently interested in Anthony Gordon after letting him go as a kid, but I can’t think of any that have actually made the move back.
The one that comes to mind is Iago Aspas
1 Like
Even that one you have to wonder. He has had a great career with Celta, but his best season in La Liga remains 2011/12, really the one that attracted LFC to buy him. The only season he exceeded total goals for them was 2016/17 where he scored 5 EL goals in 12 appearances.
1 Like
Also, he wasn’t that good on loan to Sevilla either, which really makes me wonder if he’s just a Celta Vigo man through and through.
2 Likes
Yeah, I suppose my point is I struggle to think of any players who we’ve let go and really regretted going back way back to Beardsley and Staunton in the Souness era
Same here, we don’t have the likes of Salah and De Bruyne passing through our books the way Chelsea does. There are a decent number who have gone on to have solid careers and would have been useful players, but you have to think they needed playing time they would not have gotten in order to become those players - in the match on now, Solanke comes to mind.
3 Likes
If not for your caveat, I’d have said I’ve got one – Péter Gulácsi considering we let him go when we brought Mignolet in.
2 Likes
Aspas 
1 Like
The Gulasci one is more down to the fact that he is a decent goalie and Mignolet was crap.
3 Likes
Yeah, there was the lad who played full back at West Ham (Kevin Nolan?) who we were reportedly interested in before we got Andy in but the age & price combo probably ruled that out.
Nah, no Aspas. This league and Liverpool was too much for him. Different world from his Celta.
It’s hard to give all them players an equally good chance anyway, we’re one of the top clubs and cannot do so. Impossible.
You will always have players who move on and do better elsewhere and there won’t be an argument that we should’ve used them more or sell them better than we did.
1 Like
No idea what @redalways is complaining about
Is that a rumour or has it been confirmed by a reliable source?
1 Like
Rumor that Bajcetic will cancel his current loan and switch to Real Betis. Given Grav don’t have any backup, I think Slot doesn’t rate him.
I gathered it wasn’t really going well for him at Salzburg, and now that Linders is gone there a different loan makes sense.
Endo, as well as both Jones and Mac, provides solid cover for Gravy so it makes sense the focus for Bajcetic this year should be developing to really push for a place next summer.
3 Likes
It was made clear from the start that the plan for Bajčetić was always to get him out on loan to get game time, which is especially vital after his injury. It’s not about rating him or not.
He has 890 minutes so far this season, and in comparison Gravenberch has had 2101, coming from playing virtually all the time. It’s hard to see Bajčetić getting anywhere close to that amount of playing time for us no matter how highly you rate him.
It hasn’t been a great move for him. Betis would be a big step up from Austria, but they have some good players he’d learn things from and its where Adrian is so maybe there is a sense of wanting to send him where they’d be someone to look out for him.
4 Likes