Liverpool’s midfield conundrum has established itself as a well-known fact in the Premier League, with the club’s flagging fortunes this season attributed frequently to the stagnant, static midfield.
With the likes of Thiago Alcantara and Jordan Henderson 31 years old and 32 years old respectively, and with Naby Keita, James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all with contracts facing expiry at the end of the season, fresh life is desperately needed at Anfield.
Leighton Clarkson is one player already on the books who could prove to be a valuable asset in stabilising the centre of the park, with the deep-lying playmaker excelling up in Scotland on a one-year loan deal with Aberdeen.
The 21-year-old Clarkson has made 14 appearances for Aberdeen thus far, scoring four goals and assisting two more, captivating those in and around the club with his technical ability and demand for forward transitions in abundance, always seeking out the most fruitful move.
Dons boss Jim Goodwin was particularly impressed with the player after his debut, saying: “Even though we are carrying two or three injuries at the moment, we’ve got adequate replacements in the squad.”
“You saw that at the weekend when (Hayden) Coulson goes off we just moved (Liam) Scales to left-back and (Ross) McCrorie dropped in, then wee Leighton Clarkson came on and had one of the best debuts I’ve seen in a long, long time.”
Putting in an average rating of 7.13, Clarkson has completed 71% of his passes – making 1.2 key passes per match – also winning 62% of his total duels and making an average of 2.0 tackles per match.
During his debut, against St. Mirren, the maestro came off the bench in the first half following an injury and proceeded to record an 8.1 rating, scoring with his only shot on target, winning six of his seven duels and completing 89% of his total passes on the afternoon.
And the Reds’ assistant manager Pep Ljinders waxed lyrical about the starlet back when he was only 17-years-old, impressed with his ability while training with the senior squad members.
He said: “Leighton Clarkson, who sees with his own eyes the constant runs of Sadio and Mo in behind. He has the capacity to play the passes these type of forwards like to receive, he is the type of No6 we really like, the one who can dictate play, but dictate with direction, who can speed up the tempo of the positional play, the one who has always time on the ball.”
The teenager is incredibly highly-rated by those at Anfield, with Klopp even going far as to suggest he is “similar” to the great Philipp Lahm.
Such a comparison should spark excitement across those in Merseyside with the teenager potentially set to save the club millions amid the club’s interest in Jude Bellingham, Enzo Fernandez and Sofyan Amrabat.
With several first-team positional peers set to depart the Merseyside giants at the end of the season, there is perhaps hope that Clarkson’s admirable start to life in Scotland is an indication that further success will follow at Anfield; it’s worth a shot, he could be a diamond yet to be cut.
from FootballFanCast.com https://ift.tt/Z4tXTCi
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