A former Liverpool player whose cult hero status at Anfield will endure for decades has now been handed a rather ignominious blow at his current club.
Two years on from leaving the Reds for AC Milan, Divock Origi’s standing at the San Siro is peripheral, to say the last, and a loan spell at Nottingham Forest last season didn’t have the desired effect for anyone involved.
As per Calciomercato, the 29-year-old has been omitted from the Rossoneri’s senior squad for their pre-season training camp and consigned to training with the club’s youth team, along with Fode Ballo-Toure.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who’s now a senior advisor to Milan owners RedBird, clarified the Belgian’s status by saying: “It’s not true that they haven’t been called up. The two of them have been called up, but for the Milan Futuro team. They are not part of the first team.”
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Ex-Manchester United striker Ibrahimovic has made it quite clear that Origi won’t be part of new Milan head coach Paulo Fonseca’s plans, which now makes it quite likely that the 29-year-old will seek a permanent exit from San Siro.
It’s been a sobering fall from grace for the Belgian since his departure from Liverpool, where famous goals against the likes of Everton, Newcastle, Barcelona and Tottenham wrote him into the annals of club legend, particularly during the triumphant 2018/19 Champions League campaign.
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In 58 appearances since leaivng the Reds, he’s netted a paltry three goals (Transfermarkt), a sure sign of how his fortunes have plummeted from the heady days that he once enjoyed at Anfield.
Origi still has two years left on his contract at Milan and will duly need a prospective suitor to come forward and offer him an exit route from the Rossoneri, with his career effectively placed in a state of purgatory for the time being.
A man who brought us so many golden moments deserves better than to be essentially left to rot by his club’s management, and hopefully he can either turn things around at the San Siro or be granted a move to somewhere that his talents receive greater appreciation.
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Origi bargained for more game time, leaving Liverpool in a season that he would have shone more because of the exit of Mane. But he left the club for AC Milan, unfortunately he was used as a substitute for 2022 – 23 season at AC Milan. This actually affected his performance compared to LFC, where he was given starting line up in some matches. A loan spell back to Nothingham Forest with the option to buy did not seem realistic. His woes is caused by himself leaving LFC for more game time resulting in lesser game minutes.