Reds youngster Bobby Clark is set to stay around the Liverpool first team squad for the rest of the season.
That’s according to the Chronicle. Whilst rueing Newcastle United’s inability to keep him, the North East outlet reports that Liverpool will rebuff loan interest in Clark this winter.
The 17-year-old’s rapid rise at Anfield this season is said to have clubs ‘eager’ to take him on loan in January. Those clubs include Preston North End, who are named as the team showing the biggest interest in Clark.
However, the Reds are reportedly set to turn down any interest and keep him around the first team set-up instead.
No need to rush Liverpool’s new Bobby dazzler
This would look like a good move from Liverpool. Not because Clark is set to be used in the senior team necessarily, more because it feels a little early for a loan move.
Having only arrived at Liverpool in the summer of 2021, the forward hasn’t been at the club too long. He’s also only really started to creep his way towards the first team this season.
That creeping could start to turn into something a little faster paced soon. Jurgen Klopp has name-checked Clark as a ‘really interesting player’ during Liverpool’s current camp in Dubai. After Carabao Cup and Premier League debuts this season, it’s clear that he’s on the manager’s radar.
But he’s also still only seventeen. There shouldn’t be any rush to get him involved in men’s football just yet.
Rather, Clark would perhaps be better served ticking along doing what he is now: featuring for the underage sides while simultaneously training with the seniors.
That will give him the game time he needs to develop, whilst also opening him up to a higher level. If he impresses at the AXA Training Centre, he’ll likely be given minutes as the season goes on.
In much the same why that Tyler Morton has been handled, Clark might then be ready for a loan spell.
Quite where that will be will depend on what he’s able to show between now and then. Liverpool have a good relationship with Preston, though. After the success of Sepp van den Berg’s loan there, that might be a wise choice.
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