The talented teenage starlet seems a long way from following in the Anfield footsteps of compatriots Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino.
The signing of Allan Rodrigues de Souza in 2015 was hailed as a huge coup for Liverpool – with the teenager described as a prodigy after impressing Liverpool coaches with his starring role at the Frenz International Cup earlier in the year.
Rodrigues de Souza – commonly known as Allan – was significant factor as Internacional surged to victory at the tournament; with his performances against the likes of Valencia and FC Porto ultimately leading to a £500,000 move to Merseyside.
Life at Anfield began well for Allan, who was named in Brendan Rodgers’ pre-season first team squad amid preparations for the 2015-16 campaign. However, work permit issues almost immediately halted Allan’s progress with the Reds and a subsequent loan move to Finnish side SJK materialised.
Allan scored on his SJK debut – after coming on as a second half substitute – and would turn out to be an important part of the side’s title winning achievement that season. A short stint at Belgium’s Sint-Truiden followed, before the midfielder was dealt a further blow with the news that the long-awaited work permit for the United Kingdom would only be considered after yet another loan spell.
Consequently, Allan joined Bundesliga side Hertha Berlin for the 2016-17 season – with recent reports suggesting that Hertha want to keep Allan for another year beyond his current loan contract.
On the evidence of Allan’s current Bundesliga experience, remaining for 2017-18 may not be the greatest of ideas.
Unfortunately, the diminutive midfielder has not seen much game time in Berlin amid a counterproductive loan spell with the German outfit. Aside from Allan’s record of four defeats from all of his four starts with the club to date, the fact remains that the talented 20-year-old is missing out on the most appropriate platform to showcase his talents and receive adequate exposure to prove that he is worthy of an Anfield future and that elusive work permit.
Positionally, Allan has found frustrations at Hertha. Believed to thrive as as the second man in a three-man midfield, with a talent that belies his teenage years, Allan has so far been deployed as a deep lying central midfielder, usually in Hertha’s 4-4-2 set-up. Despite his technical attributes and admirable passing abilities, perhaps the main drawback to note regarding Allan’s game remains his lack of pace and explosiveness – again, not ideal for a 4-4-2.
However, with the likes of Ben Woodburn, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ovie Ejaria receiving encouragement at first-team level in recent months, Liverpool may begin to feel that, in Allan, one of their starlets seems to be stagnating in the midst of a nomadic existence in mainland Europe.
The player himself, regardless of the red-tape issues, could well be itching to kick-start his once promising career with consideration towards a more suited move away from current temporary employers Hertha in the near future.
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