Jordan Henderson has admitted that Divock Origi will be disappointed with his limited game time for Liverpool this season.
The captain was speaking to the press via Liverpool FC on YouTube ahead of The Reds clash with Villarreal tomorrow. Asked about Origi’s performance in the Merseyside Derby, Henderson praised how his teammate has reacted to not playing as often as he’d like.
‘He’ll be frustrated with the amount of minutes that he’s got but when he has got minutes, he’s made the most of them for sure,” said Henderson.
“He’s had a few injuries too which hasn’t helped. But fantastic lad, great to have around in the dressing room and great to have around for the team as well.
“He came on and produced the goods the other day and hopefully over the next few weeks he can have another big impact.”
Origi’s popularity within the Liverpool squad clearly remains undimmed, whether he’s in Jurgen Klopp’s team or not.
Solving the Origi dilemma
One thing that Liverpool’s recruitment team will have to assess in the summer is whether to replace Origi or not.
In theory, it shouldn’t be hard to replace a player who has only started five games all season. Origi has fallen to at least sixth in the pecking order for The Reds and his minutes should easily be mopped up by the quintet of Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Luis Diaz.
However, the Belgian undoubtedly offers something far different to Liverpool than his attacking colleagues.
None have the height of the 27-year-old for a start. Although sometimes ungainly looking, Origi’s physicality clearly distinguishes him from Klopp’s other options.
Secondly, if Klopp is to be believed, then Divock is the club’s best finisher. Regardless of how good the other forwards are, that’s something you’re going to want to replace.
Looking to the youth teams
Unfortunately for Liverpool, finding somebody as good as Origi to play as little as he does isn’t going to be straightforward at all.
As a result, Klopp may be best off looking to his youth teams. 17-year-old Oakley Cannonier may be slightly green, but 40 plus goals in a season shouldn’t be sniffed at no matter your age.
Layton Stewart has also now returned to goalscoring form for Liverpool under-23s. Should Klopp feel the need to dip into the youth teams, Stewart would be another good option.
It may be that Jurgen runs the rule over the youngsters in pre-season before deciding what to do next.
Liverpool’s budget always on the smaller side of their rivals in the transfer market. If they can avoid shelling out money for a replacement, that would be an ideal scenario.