Divock Origi has signed a new five-year contract with Liverpool. Here are three things the Belgian will bring now he’s around long-term.
An out-and-out physical attacker
“He [Origi] played a couple of games on the left wing,” Jurgen Klopp told Liverpoolfc.com. “He did well there, it’s obviously not his natural position but he can play it in a specific way, in a very offensive way.”
It’s one of Origi’s greatest traits. He’s a real physical player, not just fast but tall and strong, and very direct. It’s something that Liverpool don’t really have otherwise. Plenty of fast, technical players, but few in Origi’s mould.
Because of that, he brings something different to the positions he plays. He’ll lead the line in a way Roberto Firmino can’t, while on the left he’s a more direct option than Sadio Mane.
Patience in the squad
By signing this new contract, Origi is acknowledging a squad role. He knows he won’t be starting the season ahead of Firmino, Mane, or Mohamed Salah and is going to have to wait for his chance.
Belgian journalist Kristof Terreur recently claimed that the club had offered Origi the role of ‘first-choice backup’. That sounds about right. And Origi agreeing to it is great for the club.
Be it his belief that he can work hard and break into the first-team, or merely a willingness to wait for his chance, he’s what Liverpool need behind their front three.
Potential development
When Origi originally joined in 2014 for £10m, he was a player full of potential. He only began to show it in early 2016, admittedly, before injury halted his progress.
It’s only really now, three years later, that he’s back on track. But it’s important to remember that he’s still only 24 years old.
He’s a year younger than Andy Robertson, 18 months younger than Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. He’s younger than Salah was when he joined the club.
If you look at the dramatic progress all three of those players made under Klopp, Origi should be an exciting prospect, still. He’s at an age that players tend to really kick on and, with what he’s already achieved, he may still become a top player.
You’d have to say that Liverpool see it that way, given the five-year contract.
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