Jurgen Klopp says 22-year-old Liverpool player will not train with the first-team

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Jurgen Klopp has given an update on what’s going on with Liverpool’s returning loan players.

With the transfer window now open, the Reds have already recalled a number of players from spells away from the club.

And speaking to the press today, Klopp gave an assessment of what he expects to happen with Nat Phillips and Rhys Williams.

After confirming that Phillips will reconvene with the first-team, the Liverpool boss admitted that Williams is set for a period with the U23s.

“He will be first with the U23s,” said Klopp. “I will have to talk to him why his loan spell didn’t work out. The boy I know I would expect will play in Scotland – unless it’s Celtic and Rangers – from the first to the last second and he didn’t.

“I will have to talk to him about that. I didn’t do that yet but it will happen and we will see what’s the outcome of that conversation.”

Klopp set for Williams talks

We probably won’t ever get to know the details of Klopp’s subsequent conversation with Williams, but it’s sure to be an interesting one.

It isn’t as though the 22-year-old simply failed to impress at Aberdeen. He didn’t even play a single minute all season. Williams wasn’t even injured either.

For that to happen, something must have gone badly wrong somewhere. Either he wasn’t deemed good enough or his attitude wasn’t right.

Whichever the scenario, it doesn’t look good for Williams’ future at Liverpool.

In fairness, it was already incredibly unlikely that the academy graduate would be at Anfield too much longer anyway. But on the back of his displays for the Reds a few years ago, maybe Liverpool could still fetch a respectable fee for him.

Now though, having been recalled at the halfway stage of his last three loans, that doesn’t look possible.

That’s unfortunate. Although he never looked quite up to scratch to make it at Liverpool, Rhys could have kicked on and made himself a proper Premier League defender.

He might still, but he’ll have to turn things around very quickly. He’s out of chances with the Reds, so he’ll have to buck up for wherever he’s heading next.