There was one moment, in particular, when Divock Origi’s career began its downward spiral and the Liverpool player has a battle on his hands.
It is safe to say that Villarreal’s Argentine defender Ramiro Funes Mori will never be on Divock Origi’s Christmas card list.
Funes Mori, playing for Everton at the time, was red-carded for a dangerous tackle in his side’s 4-0 defeat at Anfield in April 2016.
Origi had opened the scoring for the Reds just before the break with his fifth league goal of the season in what was his 16th league appearance. He was averaging a goal every 33 minutes and was in the best form of his young career.
Then, that Funes Mori challenge brought a temporary halt to Origi’s playing time. Origi was stretchered off with what was initially feared to be a broken ankle.
It was eventually diagnosed as a twisted ligament and he would miss the final month of Klopp’s first season, at Anfield – only making it back for a 20-minute substitute appearance in the Europa League final defeat to Sevilla.
Two substitute appearances in the European Championship group stages was the total contribution got to make in France, that summer, as Belgium lost out at the quarter-final stage, to Wales.
Upon his return to Anfield, Origi was now further down the pecking order after Klopp’s recruitment of Sadio Mane from Southampton. He would go on to make 14 league starts during that 2016/17 campaign, along with 20 substitute appearances. He managed another seven goals during that time, but his rate was out to one strike every 208 minutes by the end of that season.
The following August, Origi left for a loan spell in the Bundesliga with VFL Wolfsburg where he managed just six goals in 31 appearances.
By that stage, Origi’s international career had been reduced to cameo appearances during friendlies.
Since returning to Liverpool, Divock Origi had played just 45 minutes of a pre-season friendly for Klopp’s team before he was brought on in Liverpool’s dismal display in Belgrade last night. With talents such as Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Daniel Sturridge all favoured over Origi, it’s hard to see where he will get any significant game time this season.
Whatever becomes of Divock Origi’s professional career, he will always look back to that tackle in April 2016 when Funes Mori took the wind out of his sails, at just the wrong time. Maybe he would not have progressed at Liverpool even without that injury. However, it’s a question he will always be asking himself.
Having just turned 21, two days before the game, Origi’s future was looking bright and he seemed to have the trust of the German manager. Sadly for Origi, that has all changed.
If he is to resurrect his career, it seems it will be a long way from Anfield.
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