Liverpool are set to send promising young midfielder Leighton Clarkson to Blackburn Rovers on loan for the 2021/22 Championship season, according to The Athletic.
The Reds are keen for the teenager to secure regular first-team game time after making limited progress last season. Clarkson spent much of the campaign in and around Jurgen Klopp’s fold, but has only made three senior appearances.
Klopp awarded Clarkson his Liverpool first-team debut in a dead rubber Champions League group stage tie in December. The 19-year-old also featured for quarter of an hour against Aston Villa in the EFL Cup, plus the FA Cup replay with Shrewsbury in a full reserve squad.
Clarkson continually impressed Klopp during training sessions at Liverpool last season and will now embark on a fresh challenge. The Reds boss even nicknamed him ‘Philipp Lahm’ for his playing style. While assistant coach Pep Lijnders is also a long-term supporter of his.
The Clitheroe-born technician has spent his, albeit brief, senior career to date in the Anfield natives’ academy, since joining from Blackburn in his youth. He will soon return to Ewood Park hoping to continue his development in a setting that Klopp cannot offer.
Liverpool and Blackburn could even finalise negotiations over a loan move for Clarkson, who grew up supporting Rovers, on Monday. The Lancashire side started the Championship season with a win over Swansea, before drawing at Millwall.
Clarkson could make his Blackburn debut when Tony Mowbray’s side visit Nottingham Forest on Wednesday. If not, Rovers host last season’s Premier League strugglers West Brom on Saturday, who are also on four points currently.
Klopp a big fan of Blackburn-bound Liverpool prospect Clarkson
While Klopp cannot offer Clarkson a more prominent role at Liverpool, he is a big fan of the Blackburn-bound prospect. Along with dubbing him the Reds’ version of Lahm, the German spoke very highly of the teenager last season.
“He’s a very talented, good football-playing boy,” Klopp said, via the Metro. “In Germany, there’s a famous player who played similar to him. You might have to go back a little bit longer, [but] I don’t want to put pressure on the boy. But he reminds me a lot of him.
“He’s just a good footballer, a smart footballer, fast, physically strong. If you see his legs, they are not like 19-year-old boy legs, they are already grown.”
Now, Klopp will want Clarkson to show his wisdom and range of skill while at Blackburn on loan from Liverpool. Hopefully locking down a deep-lying role in Mowbray’s midfield, to come back next summer ready to challenge for a spot in his ranks at Anfield.
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