With a good chunk of the season left to play, full focus at Liverpool will remain on winning the Premier League this term.
The Reds are in an unbelievable position with just eight games to go and look virtually certain to lift a 20th league title.
Nevertheless, the planning never stops in elite level football and those behind the scenes at Liverpool will already be looking ahead to next season.
One of the big questions lingering over Arne Slot’s second campaign at Anfield is who the Dutchman will install as his first choice left-back.
Andy Robertson has had a pleasing renaissance of late, but it remains likely that Liverpool will sign a new left-back this summer.
There is also always the chance that Slot could solve the issue internally, by looking to the Liverpool academy for a solution. However, the most likely candidate to make the step up – Owen Beck – is now set to miss his big chance.
Owen Beck picks up two-month injury
Beck has had another season of progression away from Liverpool, making 25 appearances across all competitions for Championship side Blackburn Rovers.
As Rousing The Kop exclusively revealed in January, Liverpool have been impressed by Beck and were all set to give him a chance to stake his claim in pre-season.
And although that could of course still happen, Blackburn boss Valerian Ismael confirmed on Thursday that the 22-year-old is set to miss the rest of the campaign with injury.
“We have bad news about Owen Beck, who will be out for the rest of the season with a hamstring injury, which will keep him out for at least eight weeks,” Ismael said via rovers.co.uk.
Eight weeks would take Beck into June, and although that would mean a return by the time Liverpool reconvene for pre-season, any complications – even small ones – could change that.
Coming back to the camp while recovering from injury is different to returning fresh and ready to go, and this could be small detail needed to put Beck out of Slot’s thoughts.
Liverpool should look for Beck sale
Beck is clearly a very talented left-back and in our opinion has the quality to be play a part in the Liverpool squad.
However, injuries have been a factor for him this season and as Slot searches for the right player to push Robertson for a starting spot, that has to be taken into account.
| Appearances | Goals | Assists | Minutes | Pass Accuracy | Chances Created | |
| Owen Beck Championship 24/25 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 1,873 | 74.5% | 19 |
Beck will be 23 in August and is no longer a very young player. He is more than ready to play men’s football, as he has demonstrated at both Blackburn and Dundee.
As a result, if Liverpool bring in a player like Milos Kerkez, for example, early into the window, they should look to capitalise on Beck’s high stock and sell him this summer.
Former Blackburn manager John Eustace hailed Beck for a ‘brilliant’ goal he scored for Rovers earlier this season. The Welshman is a good young player in the making and had the timing been different, could have broken through at Liverpool.
But this latest setback is a sign that whatever chance he had this summer is now set to pass him by.
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