Liverpool have asked Austria Vienna to cancel the season-long loan of young centre-back Billy Koumetio.
Koumetio joined the Austrian side last summer, but has played just five league games for them, starting only three times. As a result, Austria Vienna sporting director Manuel Ortlechner has admitted that Liverpool have begun talks to bring the 20-year-old back.
“We are in close contact and I have a phone call with Liverpool later because they would like to bring Koumetio back,” he said via Sky Sports Austria.
“We still think he’s an incredibly exciting player. He can have a really exciting career. Liverpool want to bring him back now, they have the right. We still have to clarify everything, but 99 percent Billy Koumetio will no longer play for Austria Wien.”
Koumetio set for Anfield return
It’s always a little bit of a worry when a young player heads overseas for a loan. Liverpool have had virtually no success with these kinds of moves.
Only this season they had to make a similar call with left-back Owen Beck, who was struggling for games in Portugal with Famalicao.
It has been a similar story for the likes of Ryan Kent and Sheyi Ojo in the past, too. Kent only lasted half a season in Germany with Freiburg, returning with just six games under his belt. Ojo fared a little better at Ligue 1 side Reims, lasting the full season. But he still featured just 18 times during 2018/19.
With Koumetio another to have wasted a precious six months of his development, Liverpool would be wise to avoid this route in the future.
Instead, it’s better to keep the youngster’s relatively nearby, where it’s easier to check in on their progress.
It remains to be seen whether this is something Liverpool now plan on doing with Koumetio. He had once been viewed as a potential first team player at Anfield, making his senior debut in 2020.
Only one more appearance has followed since then, though, and he has looked sluggish at times during pre-season outings. Still, he’s barely turned twenty. Plenty of time ahead.
It looks like being a good call from Liverpool to pull the plug on this deal early, anyway. That way Koumetio won’t have a full season wasted. There should hopefully be a few takers for the Frenchman during the winter window, so he can keep his first team dreams alive.
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