Liverpool ready to sell midfielder amid Championship and Scotland interest

Liverpool appear to have already made a decision on Leighton Clarkson‘s future, with the club ready for offers from clubs in England and Scotland.

Clarkson bounced back from a disappointing spell at Blackburn to enjoy a breakout loan with Aberdeen last season, which saw him play 38 times.

The 21-year-old scored six goals and laid on another eight during his time at Pittrodie, which led to speculation over a possible return to Liverpool as a homegrown player.

However, the club will now “listen to offers” for the academy graduate, who is “expected” to depart on a permanent transfer.

That is according to The Athletic‘s James Pearce, who reports that clubs in the Championship are interested as well as sides in the Scottish Premiership.

Aberdeen are chief among those, with sources in Scotland claiming a “broad agreement” is already in place after their progress into the Europa League playoffs.

There is no guarantee Clarkson will join the Dons, though, given interest from the English second tier, with West Brom and QPR both suitors in the past.

Reading are also claimed to be pursuing the versatile midfielder, but their drop down to League One makes any deal unlikely.

Clarkson has a year left on his contract at Liverpool, and having turned 21 in October it stands to reason that the club would now look to sell.

Jurgen Klopp is overseeing a rebuild of his midfield ranks this summer, including the signing of Alexis Mac Allister, but there is no place for his No. 65.

This comes despite Clarkson now qualifying as a homegrown player in the Premier League, with the Reds decidedly short in that regard after the departures of James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Caoimhin Kelleher and Nat Phillips are also likely to leave this summer, with Jordan Henderson, Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones the only other senior homegrown players.

The manager could decide to retain Rhys Williams or Sepp van den Berg to fill further slots in the Premier League squad, but it is more realistic that they follow Clarkson out.