Liverpool could repeat a classy gesture from previous years to give one Jürgen Klopp star an unlikely shot at an Anfield renaissance.
He has earned it. It is often said that Jurgen Klopp does not have a ruthless streak. The Liverpool manager has vehemently denied this, but in such a cutthroat and frequent industry, he has to accept it as a badge of honour.
Of course, pure excitement should be the domain of softcore fans like me. Otherwise the football club will never develop. Under my watch, Liverpool have re-signed probably every fan-favourite player of the last decade.
However, there is a place for the advanced clubs in which they struggle with the greatest rewards to show humanity. When Klopp is Liverpool in this club I am obliged to do it.
Klopp recently spoke about the work of the LFC Foundation and rightly so. He and his players are often at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital over Christmas and the Liverpool manager also knows the city’s politics. And then there is the element of caring for his players.
There is hardly a player in world football who wouldn’t want the famous ‘Klopp Hug’, but it has a deeper meaning than that. During the operation of Klopp, Liverpool proved to be a long -term relationship.
Recently, Joe Gomez and Virgil Van Dies Virl Van Dies have recently talked about those who have recently won and recently returned to a long -term order.
The initial quality of this treatment is not intended for confident players either. While it would be a no-brainer to hand Van Dijk a new contract despite his injury, that hasn’t been the case in the past with the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Leighton Stewart and Paul Glatzel, the latter still employed.
Now, on the other side of the spectrum, we have Joel Matip. He just tore his ACL and his contract is up at the end of the season. If he is released in the summer, he will most likely struggle to find a new club. Few would be interested in moving an injury-prone player who turns 33 in August and may have just returned from a serious injury.
That would be harsh treatment for a player who played over 200 games for Liverpool and laid the foundation for a highly successful spell. Of course, Klopp cannot afford to throw more money at Matip.
The harsh reality is that it is hard to see him returning to Liverpool at the moment, and any new contract should reflect that. But it is not the first time that the central defender has been ruled out due to injury.
It is true that this is the worst of them all. But Matip has defied the odds time and again, only to see him sold or released before returning to make a valuable contribution at Liverpool.It’s an unlikely comeback event.
But Liverpool may need to hand Matip a lifeline at a critical time and at least give him the chance to produce a best-of-the-pack revival and show his class again.
