Back in September 2020, Liverpool made the controversial decision to sell Ki-Jana Hoever to Wolves in a deal worth £13.5m.
The Dutch wonderkid was very highly rated at Anfield, and some Liverpool fans even criticised the Reds for letting him go.
Now, Wolves boss Bruno Lage has aimed some pretty scathing comments in the direction of Hoever, which suggest Jürgen Klopp was right to sell him.
What’s the story?
Well, the 20-year-old was handed an opportunity against Crystal Palace on Saturday in the absence of Nelson Semedo.
Unfortunately, Hoever only lasted 25 minutes before going off with a hamstring injury, which Lage amazingly blamed the youngster for.
Sky Sports quote the 45-year-old as saying: “Injuries can happen, but this one happened because he was not prepared because Ki sometimes doesn’t work in the same intensity. This warning is not only for Ki, it’s for all the kids we have in our team. They need to understand that I don’t waste time with guys who don’t work hard every day to improve.”
Now, you don’t see that often.
We don’t want to make assumptions, but it sounds as if Hoever is not applying himself properly as a result of being backup to Semedo.
Liverpool know more about Ki-Jana Hoever than us
As aforesaid, many people questioned Liverpool’s decision to sell one of their most exciting young talents, although it now seems as if the Reds knew what they were doing.
Klopp doesn’t like unprofessional players. It is partly why he sold Mamadou Sakho to Crystal Palace, after freezing the Frenchman out due to a number of disciplinary breaches (ESPN).
Therefore, perhaps the German noticed that Hoever was lacking in application during his time on Merseyside, and felt that £13.5m was too good to turn down.
Whatever the reason behind his departure from Liverpool, it seems Hoever now has a mission on his hands to get back into Lage’s good books at Wolves.
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