One player who Liverpool sold earlier this year could now be the indirect beneficiary of the misfortune of a former Reds teammate.
In August, Anfield chiefs decided to cash in on Bobby Clark, who moved to Red Bull Salzburg in a £10m transfer and is already making waves under Pep Lijnders in Austria.
According to Football Insider, the 19-year-old is now believed to be in contention for a call-up to the England under-21 squad for their crucial European qualifying double header in October, with interim coach Ben Futcher due to announce his selection on Friday.
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In an ironic twist, Clark’s chances of making the England under-21 squad have been aided not just by his own form but also the injury blow suffered by Harvey Elliott in training for the Young Lions earlier this month.
The Liverpool star isn’t due to return to action until late October (Premier Injuries) and won’t recover in time for the upcoming international break, which has left a vacancy for Futcher to fill.
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The Salzburg midfielder, who was dubbed ‘unbelievable’ by one-to-one specialist football coach Ryan Drane after working with him during the first COVID lockdown in 2020 (Liverpool Echo), was entrusted to start in his team’s opening Champions League game against Sparta Prague and claimed his first assist for the club in a 4-0 cup win over Wiener Viktoria last week (Transfermarkt).
If Clark gets the England call on Friday, he’ll feel that the decision to leave Merseyside has already been vindicated, as he simply wouldn’t have had the same game-time under Slot, with Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai firmly establishing themselves as the first-choice midfield of late.
Liverpool will likely remain convinced that the decision to sell the 19-year-old for £10m was justified given the fee that Salzburg offered and the difficult that he likely would’ve had in breaking into our starting XI, but it’s good to see that the teenager is thriving elsewhere and already catching the eye of national team coaches.
Hopefully he’ll be included by Futcher for the Young Lions’ October double header against Ukraine and Azerbaijan.
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