Liverpool midfielder suffers new injury
When players go out on loan, it is imperative that they play to continue their development and improvement. Big clubs always have a wealth of youngsters plying their trade elsewhere so results are inevitably mixed. For instance, Liverpool’s Owen Beck scored for Dundee on Saturday, finding the net for the second successive weekend. A fellow Reds prospect has not been as lucky, though, with James Balagizi recently suffering a long-term injury.
The 20-year-old is currently at Wigan Athletic, though This Is Anfield has reported the loan could be terminated early as he is set to be out for at least six weeks. As Latics manager Shaun Maloney told the Wigan Observer: “James damaged his hamstring in training, very innocuous, but it doesn’t look a very good one.”
Balagizi hadn’t been featuring that often even prior to the injury, playing for just 414 minutes in total and only making three appearances in League One. If the loan is terminated, it will be interesting to see if he gets an opportunity elsewhere in the second half of 2023/24. With his contract expiring next summer, it feels essential that he plays more often. Balagizi is a talented footballer and is very technically gifted but has never been fortunate with injuries. Previously, he would have been handed a chance with the senior side during pre-season, only to hurt his arm.
Liverpool linked with starlet “more talented than Cristiano Ronaldo”
December is the busiest month of the season and when it is over there is the small matter of the transfer window reopening. As such, we can expect plenty of rumors to surface over the next few weeks and the latest sees Liverpool linked with a Juventus starlet. It has been reported by Calciomercato that the Reds are keen on signing Kenan Yildiz, an 18-year-old attacking midfielder. It is claimed that Jörg Schmadtke recommended the youngster to Jürgen Klopp having followed him while he was still at Wolfsburg (Yildiz was previously at Bayern Munich before moving to Italy).
The midfielder is being heavily talked up by Soykan Baskar, his coach with Turkey’s under-19 side. “Yildiz is more talented than Cristiano Ronaldo,” he said. “His technique with the ball is superior to that of Portuguese.” No pressure, Kenan.
Liverpool will be looking to close the gap to Arsenal in the Premier League table when it takes on Fulham on Sunday, before Manchester City hosts Spurs. Here’s your round-up of the latest Liverpool news.
