Liverpool face Union Saint-Gilloise in their final Europa League group stage match and with nothing to play for tonight, manager Jurgen Klopp should hand youngster Kaide Gordon his first appearance of the season.
Liverpool have already secured top spot in Group E having won four of their first five games.
Jurgen Klopp was speaking to the press yesterday and made sure to pay special attention to young winger Kaide Gordon.
Gordon burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old after being handed his senior debut by Wayne Rooney at Derby County.
With the club in financial trouble, Liverpool sensed an opportunity and brought the teenager in a fee that could rise to £3m.
Gordon made his senior debut for the Reds during the 2021/22 season, featuring in three cup games and making his Premier League bow off the bench against Brentford.
However, the 19-year-old suffered from a pelvic growth issue in February 2022 that kept him sidelined for 18 months.
Gordon suffered a few setbacks too but is now in Liverpool’s travelling squad to face Union SG tonight.
He was an unused substitute against Toulouse and LASK and has three U21s appearances this season.
The confidence boost he could get from Jurgen Klopp handing him an appearance today would be huge for the young winger.
Liverpool manager Klopp should hand Gordon appearance against Union SG
Asked about the youngster in his pre-match press conference, Klopp said: “We were really unlucky with some of our big, big prospects. We had that problem that they were a little bit too good already for the physical status.
“So, they were that good that we thought they could help us already and everybody went in the right direction and then the body said no, stop. And that happened to Kaide, unfortunately, two or three times, it was a really long time out.
“And that’s now really cool as well – from the first day back in training, we all realised immediately, ‘Ah, that’s what we missed, that’s what we had already.’
“So, nothing happened really, still a fantastic player, still incredibly young and he is now again around the first team.
“We try to give him as much game time as possible with the U21s. We have a really good group there together of young boys and some of them we will see tomorrow, that’s clear.”
Klopp admitted he doesn’t think talents like Gordon need to be loaned out and highlighted the different ways young players can be developed.
Liverpool’s abundance of young talents deserves their chance
Gordon isn’t the only Liverpool academy player included in the squad to play Union SG this evening.
Ben Doak, Luke Chambers, Calum Scanlon, James McConnell and Conor Bradley have all been involved with the first team already this season, while Jarell Quansah appears to be a permanent member of the senior squad.
While the club are still linked with several signings in the upcoming transfer window in both defence and midfield, Klopp has shown he’s happy to trust the players coming through the club’s academy.
The trouble for Gordon is that he’s competing with Ben Doak for appearances on the right wing and the Scot impresses every time he steps on the pitch.
The pair both have the perfect tutor in training in Mohamed Salah who is arguably one of the best forwards of the Premier League era.
With Salah still a key target for Saudi Arabian clubs, if he does leave, all of a sudden a gap opens up in the squad for a winger to step up.
While Liverpool would almost certainly recruit a replacement, the likes of Gordon and Doak will know it’s these small opportunities that tend to lead to careers at the highest level.
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