Jurgen Klopp was impressed with Liverpool youngster Leighton Clarkson’s passing during training yesterday.
As seen on liverpoolfc.com’s Inside Pre-season video, Klopp was amazed by one pass in particular from the 20-year-old.
“Ah, good ball Leighton!” said a grinning Klopp as he watched a rondo session. “How he can do that?”
The Liverpool players looked sharp to a man as they pinged the ball about at the AXA Training Centre. Training will continue today as the squad gear up to fly out to Asia this weekend.
Clarkson back on the radar
It wasn’t all that long ago that Clarkson had been getting some decent opportunities in the first-team.
He came from relative obscurity in the academy to play three times for the senior team between December 2019 and December 2020.
Not only did he play, but Clarkson looked tidy in possession and generally capable of becoming a potential option for Klopp.
Last season’s loan move to Blackburn Rovers was seen at the time as the next step in his development. Rather than sending an unwanted player away, it felt more like a test of whether Clarkson was ready to step up a gear or two.
Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out as hoped. After just seven appearances for his boyhood club, Clarkson returned to Liverpool in January.
That felt like a kick in the teeth to his chances of staying at Anfield long-term. Couple that with Tyler Morton’s breakthrough last season, and it’s hard not to feel that the youngster has just been bang out of luck recently.
This is good encouragement from Klopp, though. The manager clearly saw something in Clarkson – he’s been on the bench nine times for the first-team as well as his three games played.
At twenty, it seems unlikely that Clarkson will make the grade at Liverpool. But praise from Klopp will surely spur him on. If he can keep impressing during pre-season, maybe he can show himself to be an option for the season ahead.
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