According to reports from The Athletic, former Liverpool defender Jon Flanagan is expected to complete a move to Belgian league leaders Charleroi.
Flanagan, 27, has been a free agent since leaving Rangers at the end of last season and will travel Belgium to put pen-to-paper on a one-year contract.
WARSAW, POLAND – AUGUST 22: Jon Flanagan of Rangers FC in action during the UEFA Europa League Play Off First Leg match between Legia Warsaw and Rangers FC on August 22, 2019 in Warsaw, Poland. (Photo by PressFocus/MB Media/Getty Images)
The Liverpool academy graduate had been training with League One outfit Fleetwood Town in previous months and was biding his time before the right move began to materialise. He will sign for his new club-side Charleroi until the end of the 2020/21 season.
According to The Athletic, Flanagan did have offers from the football league but the one-time England international was reportedly keen to take up a new challenge abroad.
He will be linking up with his former England youth teammate Sadio Berahino, the former West Brom striker, and similarly to former sides Liverpool and Rangers, Flanagan will be joining a team with league title aspirations.
It’s quite the fall from grace when you consider the significant role Flanagan played in Liverpool’s title challenge under Brendan Rodgers in the 2013/14 season. He clocked up 51 appearances during an eight-year spell at Anfield.
After a series of injuries, Flanagan struggled to get back in the side. Following loan spells at Burnley and Bolton, he joined Steven Gerrard at Rangers in 2018.
Flanagan clocked up 21 appearances at Ibrox during the last two seasons under his former captain and Rangers manager Gerrard before he was released by the club after his contract expired in June.
He had fallen behind in the 40-year-old’s defensive pecking order with full-backs James Tavernier and Borna Barisic taking greater precedence under Gerrard in Glasgow.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 20: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Jon Flanagan of Liverpool during a training session at Melwood Training Ground on December 20, 2017 in Liverpool, England. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
What RTK has to say
We’re glad that Flanagan is taking up a new challenge and even more made up that his footballing talents can be utilised with a team who are fighting it out for a league title.
He has had a difficult time with it in recent years, particularly during his final few months at Anfield. Flanagan’s last Premier League appearance for Liverpool was over four years ago against West Brom in 2016.
Fingers crossed he can kickstart his career elsewhere in a completely new environment.
All the best, Jon.
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