Jurgen Klopp has emphasised that loan spells “cannot” be compared for his youngsters, adding that he has full faith in their ability to follow in Conor Bradley‘s footsteps.
The boss was speaking shortly after the news that Owen Beck will return to Dundee for the remainder of the season, having been briefly recalled amid an injury crisis at left-back.
Calvin Ramsay was also added to the list of returning loanees this month when he was brought back from an unsuccessful stint at Preston North End.
He has now been sent to League One side Bolton, where fellow right-back Bradley enjoyed a successful spell last season prior to breaking into Liverpool’s first team in recent weeks.
Klopp explained that “luck” plays a part in how beneficial such moves prove to be, adding that he anticipates Ramsay will bounce back from his latest setback.
“You cannot compare loan spells,” the boss insisted when asked whether Bradley’s rise could offer hope to the likes of Ramsay and Owen Beck.
“Owen as well, like Calvin, had a difficult loan spell [before Dundee].
“He goes to Scotland, plays there, and it gave him a massive boost. Arrived here and looked like a man, left-back, really ready to go.
“Now the other boys are coming back, we have the opportunity to give him that time again, makes sense.
“The problem for Calvin is that he was too often injured. It’s a horrible run of bad luck I would say.
“That has to stop at one point and then everybody can see how good Calvin can be, but now he needs consistent training and, of course, playing time as well.
“Conor is a very good example that it helped, massively. We knew even before he went on loan he would end up in our first team.”
The manager went on to praise James McConnell, who made his first senior start for the club in the 5-2 FA Cup fourth-round win over Norwich on Sunday.
Klopp joked about the number of tickets the teenager managed to secure for the occasion and reiterated that players of his age can develop without top-flight football.
“A 19-year-old boy doesn’t need, week in week out, Premier League games to develop,” he continued.
“[McConnell] told me before the game he had nine tickets for the game and afterwards he had 20 people, I don’t know how he brought them in!
“The so-called ‘big guns’ are coming back, but it does not have any influence on their development, if they only could develop playing 20 Premier League games in a row they would not be the talent that they are, so it’s all fine.”
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