‘Crazy potential’: Teammate defends reported Liverpool target as critics savage his form

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Perhaps we just expect too much, too soon these days.

It’s a sad indictment of our society when a teenager such as Neco Williams feels he has no choice but to withdraw from the social media bear pit due to an overwhelming barrage of online abuse.

Perhaps, with Kylian Mbappe, Bukayo Saka and the Terminator-like Erling Haaland belying their tender years on the biggest stages week in, week out, we have forgotten that patience – especially with wide-eyed youngsters – is not just a virtue but a necessity.

So all the hand-wringing surrounding Jeremy Doku’s sluggish start to life at Rennes feels about as over the top as a Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas special.

Yes, the £27 million summer signing from Anderlecht has failed to produce a goal or assist in ten Ligue 1 or Champions League games, but it’s wrong to expect an 18-year-old – one who only made his first-team debut in 2019 – to adapt immediately to a new land and a new club.

“He has crazy potential. He has enormous room for improvement,” Rennes right-back Hamari Traore tells FootMercato, speaking some much-needed sense.

“We haven’t had a lot of training between the sequence of matches. I think he’s trying to figure out how to play, how he can combine with me.

“He’s a young man. We must not forget that he has just arrived (at Rennes). It takes time to adapt. It will come. I know we will make a good double-act and we will bring danger to the side.”

It’s only a couple of weeks since Doku was firing a stunning goal into Iceland’s net, opening his international account for Belgium in fine style and catching the eye of Kevin De Bruyne along the way (Reuters).

One thing’s for sure, Liverpool won’t be getting carried away by Doku’s rough introduction to Ligue 1 life.

The Premier League champions have been big fans of the teenage winger since 2018 and, according to Het Laaste Nieuws, are keeping a close eye on his development as they consider renewing their interest in a long-time transfer target.

However, if Doku does want to represent the six-time European champions one day, opening his account for Rennes sooner rather than later would do him no harm at all.