Jurgen Klopp‘s comments on Harry Wilson after his wondergoal in Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Lyon strongly indicate that the winger is not in his plans for 2019/20.
Wilson enjoyed a reasonable pre-season, including a goal in the 3-2 loss to Dortmund in South Bend, but saved his best moment for last as he struck an incredible effort beyond Ciprian Tatarusanu on Wednesday night.
It was undoubtedly the goal of the summer for the Reds, and has prompted renewed calls for the Welshman to stay with Liverpool for the campaign to come.
But with interest from the likes of Newcastle, Aston Villa and, confirmed by the Mail‘s Dominic King, now Bournemouth, there is a strong possibility he will be sold.
That was reinforced by Klopp after the game, as when asked about Wilson’s future during his post-match press conference, the manager gave no assurances over his future.
“We are in constant conversations, that’s clear,” he revealed.
“We have to do the right thing for us and for the boy.
“There is nothing to talk about in public about it, so we will see what happens in the next eight or nine days until the window closes.
“He is obviously a really good player and I was really happy with him in the whole pre-season.”
While Klopp went on to explain how he was “completely different” from last pre-season after a formative loan at Derby County, he added that he was required to tweak his system to accommodate Wilson.
“He played not in his best position, he played left wing and did it really well,” he continued.
“We tried to set it up a little bit so it is more comfortable for him with positioning and stuff like that.”
If Wilson were to fill in for the likes of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane—who will likely miss the first weeks of the season as he is yet to return—he could well need to serve as a like-for-like alternative.
The 22-year-old is an excellent talent, as his goal at the Stade de Geneve proved, but that may not be realised at Liverpool.
Indeed, with Bournemouth “waiting in the wings” according to King, the Reds could capitalise on a profitable relationship with the Cherries once again.
Eddie Howe’s side have signed Brad Smith (£6m), Jordon Ibe (£15m) and Dominic Solanke (£19m) for a combined £40 million in recent years, as well as taking Nathaniel Clyne on loan, bringing in Klopp’s unwanted fringe players.
Wilson is valued at around £25 million, which would equal Bournemouth‘s club-record fee paid to sign Jefferson Lerma in 2018.
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