Ovie Ejaria isn’t in Jurgen Klopp‘s plans for the new season, but he won’t be heading out on loan again either.
The midfielder initially showed good promise as an Academy hopeful, but his career has moved somewhat sideways over the last few seasons.
With Liverpool improving in every department over the same timeframe, it’s inevitable that one or two players will have to move on to continue their journey, and that is now the case with Ejaria.
Aged 21, he’s a year younger than a couple of those trying to impress on tour right now, but other younger midfielders such as Curtis Jones and Ben Woodburn are clearly ahead of him.
The Echo report that Liverpool are willing to sell him for around £3.5 million, with Brentford keen on a deal at that figure, plus a sell-on clause which seems to come as standard now to sign a Reds player.
Reading are also interested, though the weekend talk was that they were hoping for a loan deal after Ejaria was there on a temporary spell last season.
Another loan is not on the cards, however, given the circumstances Liverpool face this season.
The U23s will play in the EFL Trophy, which could see Ejaria bring his reasonable experience of lower-level action to the side.
It’s unlikely he has a future in the first team, though, with his last appearance coming in January 2017. Since then he has had loan spells at Sunderland, Rangers and Reading—and only last year he signed a new contract with the Reds before heading north of the border.
His loans haven’t quite yielded the impact of Harry Wilson or Ryan Kent, for example, but he clearly remains a player of potential and well-suited to rebuilding his career from Championship level.
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