Liverpool’s Premier League benchwarmer Divock Origi is now ‘close’ to joining AC Milan and is expected to earn £65,000-a-week at the Serie A leaders, as reported by Calciomercato.
It’s a measure of the strength in depth at Jurgen Klopp’s disposal that a man who scored the winner in the 2020 Champions League final wasn’t even included in Liverpool’s squad for Wednesday’s hard-fought 2-0 win at Arsenal.
In fact, Origi has played just 71 minutes of Premier League football this season. With Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota and January recruit Luis Diaz ahead of him in the pecking order, the seldom-seen Belgian is now Liverpool’s sixth-choice forward.
And, with his contract expiring in July, Origi will soon have the opportunity to leave Merseyside giants behind for a club capable of offering him more regular minutes.
This is a World Cup year after all.
Origi has turned down offers in the past. He rejected Wolves a couple of seasons ago. But he cannot afford another eight months on the sidelines.
Not if he’s to force his way into Roberto Martinez’s Belgium squad ahead of Qatar 2022.
Is Divock Origi leaving Liverpool for AC Milan?
Roma and Inter Milan are both reportedly keen.
According to Calciomercato, AC Milan are the most likely destination for Origi as things stand. Paolo Maldini, the Rossoneri legend turned technical director, was ‘captivated’ by Origi’s performance at the San Siro in December.
Always a man for the big occasion, the striker scored Liverpool’s winning goal during that 2-1 Champions League group-stage triumph in Milan.
Of course he did. Klopp doesn’t call Origi a modern-day Liverpool ‘legend‘ for nothing.
An deal between Milan and Origi is now ‘close’.
The former Lille and Wolfsburg man – nine and 14 years younger than Milan’s current first-choice centre-forwards Olivier Giroud and Zlatan Ibrahimovic – will join on a free transfer. He’ll sign a deal worth around £3.3 million a season.
That translates to £65,000-a-week. Slightly more than Origi currently earns at Anfield.
“Ibrahimovic’s heir must be identified and purchased,” says Milan legend Demetrio Albertini.
“Milan has to focus on forwards who are strong but (struggling for games) at their club. I think of Liverpool’s Origi. He would score a lot in Serie A.”
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