Joe Allen has revealed his struggles in his final days as a Liverpool player and how blunt Jürgen Klopp was with him with regards to whether or not he was allowed to leave the club.
When Brendan Rodgers left the club, there was always likely to be a number of players that were certain to leave, with the likes of Mario Balotelli clear candidates to secure moves to pastures new.
Joe Allen also found that his career with Liverpool was not a certainty and although he was a good squad player for the Reds on the way to the Europa League final in 2016, there was no real chance he would have an extended career on Merseyside.
‘The Welsh Pirlo’ has revealed how his last days at Liverpool panned out after he told Klopp he wanted to leave the club as he grew frustrated with a lack of playing time.
“We got to January [2016], I started one league game in December and had done 10 league games in a row as an unused sub. I think it was fair to say the writing was on the wall,” Allen said.
“We got to January, I spoke to Klopp and probably about ten days before the end of the transfer window said I wanted to leave, I probably went a bit early with it because it wasn’t as if I had options. I just wanted to let him know, could we sort this out.
“Then I remember, it was a time of a lot of soul searching and anyway I looked at it – potential moves, who might be interested and who definitely won’t be – and I remember writing an email or a letter to my agent explaining that ‘I keep coming back to Swansea, that’s all I really want. I want to go home and I want to play for them. If they want me can we try and make it happen?’
“Klopp had said ‘if we can get someone in then you can go’. That was pretty straightforward, but he did say ‘we don’t have anyone lined up, so if we don’t [sign a replacement] you are staying’.”