Blackburn Rovers boss Jon Dahl Tomasson has said that Liverpool assistant manager Pep Lijnders had ‘only positive’ things to say about Tyler Morton.
As per his quotes in the Lancashire Telegraph, Tomasson spoke with Pep Lijnders ahead of Morton’s loan move to Rovers this week.
“If a manager like Klopp, an excellent manager who’s one of the best in the world, trusts someone at Tyler’s age, that’s really positive,” said the former AC Milan striker.
“I’ve spoken with the assistant manager at Liverpool, a Dutchman (Pep Lijnders), who has only said positive words about him. We know all about his personality, how he is as a person, the family situation, it all sounds perfect to us. Tyler’s a young boy with a lot of talent. He’s played Champions League football for Liverpool and that shows the trust that Jurgen Klopp has in him.
“He played against AC Milan last season, he also played against Porto and did a good job in both games. He’s still a young boy and is one of the players who Liverpool want to get in their team in the years to come. For Liverpool, this is an important loan, and he has to deserve minutes with us.”
Morton still in the first-team picture
Liverpool definitely have high hopes for Morton. At times, a club loaning a young player out could mean the beginning of the end for him at his parent club. But that doesn’t feel like it’s the case with Morton.
As Tomasson says, Klopp has trusted him in big games over the past 12 months. The Liverpool manager plucked the midfielder from the academy with little fanfare and thrust him into the first-team picture.
Morton did well, too. He didn’t just do well in a vague kind of way either, the teenager was genuinely impressive.
So instead of signalling a lack of trust in him, this move feels more like what a loan should be: a way to develop further.
Morton needs to bulk up, that much is clear. He could of course do that in the gym at Liverpool where the facilities are second-to-none. Going away and playing every week will speed that process up no end, though.
He’ll be playing against seasoned pros both in training and on game day. The kind of experience he will gain from that won’t come from playing underage football with the occasional first-team appearance at Liverpool.
There is a risk involved of course. Leighton Clarkson was in a similar position when he joined Blackburn this time last year. After struggling to make an impression at Ewood Park, he cut his loan short. Now, the 20-year-old is incredibly unlikely to play for Liverpool again.
Morton must make the most of his time in the Championship. He certainly isn’t out of Klopp and Lijnders’ thoughts. If he can impress, he’ll have a good chance of being in the first-team next season.
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