Premier League leaders Liverpool signed Joe Hardy from Championship high-flyers Brentford in the January transfer window – Neil Critchley loves him.
Liverpool coach Neil Critchley believes the Premier League leaders have a ‘proper goalscorer’ in the shape of January signing Joe Hardy, speaking to the Liverpool Echo.
With Jurgen Klopp already boasting one of the most talented squad in world football, the reigning Kings of Europe have overlooked big-money signings to instead focus on bringing the next generation of superstars to Anfield.
Sepp Van Der Berg and Harvey Elliott have already made a real impression in cup competitions and, while the signing of Hardy from Brentford last month went under the radar, he too is already being tipped for a bright future in the famous red shirt.
A one-time Manchester City youngster, Hardy scored his sixth and seventh goals for Liverpool’s reserves already during a 6-0 thrashing of Sunderland on Monday.
And Critchley is full of praise for a 21-year-old who looks like yet another inspired piece of business from the Merseyside giants.
“Joe has really added to the way we play because he is there to finish the moves off for us,” says Critchley, who believes Hardy has given the U23s something they badly needed in attack. “He was someone we lacked in the first half of the season.
“Joe is a good finisher off both feet, as you saw against Sunderland. He is a proper goalscorer and is great for us.”
Hardy netted 40 goals in 80 games for Brentford’s B Team after making a name for himself at Man City’s Etihad Campus.
The Englishman has already made his first-team bow for Liverpool in the recent FA Cup victory over Shrewsbury Town and, given the lack of classic centre-forwards in Klopp’s squad, he could prove to be a useful joker-in-the-pack over the next few years.
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