Youngster unlikely to head back to Liverpool this winter…
Liverpool will not be bringing young Belgian striker Divock Origi back from his loan spell at Lille in January, despite current issues with keeping our forwards fit, reports the official website.
Rumours have began to increasingly circulate that because of Daniel Sturridge’s latest injury (which will keep him out until 2015), we would pay money to terminate Origi’s loan deal and bring him to Anfield early.
Rodgers has rubbished the suggestions, however.
“It was never the case,” was his response to the suggestion that we would pay a £5m fee to trigger an early return.
“It was always on the understanding, and there was no discussion, that he had to stay at Lille,” he continued.
“I’ve seen reports about him maybe coming back early, but that was never the case. We signed the player and it was one of the main reasons that we were able to sign the player – that he would have to stay at Lille for this season.
“There has been a lot of speculation about him coming back, but I’ve never felt that was the case. He is a young player that we identified as a talent.
“The deal was in place quite clearly and simply in the summer that he would stay at Lille for the season and then we would get him next season. As far as I’m concerned, at this point in time, that’s still the case.”
In all likelihood, Rodgers would like to have Origi available, but it seems that part of the reason we managed to sign him during the summer was due to the fact we promised him to the French for a season.
With Mario Balotelli potentially out of this weekend’s fixture with Crystal Palace, and Sturridge’s long-term problems, Rodgers could field either Fabio Borini or Rickie Lambert up top.
If Origi isn’t available in January, we could turn to a number of different striker options which will no doubt be regularly mooted in newspaper articles in the run up the winter window.