The Malaga manager is predicting a successful future for Luis Alberto…
Javi Gracia has backed Luis Alberto for footballing success, despite struggling to find the Liverpool loanee a place in his first-team at Malaga, restricting the 22-year-old to just six league starts.
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Gracia, who was quoted by the Guardian, said: “He is talented, finishes well and scores goals. It is true that he is playing less than he might like because others are playing well, but he has a promising future.
“It is hard for a player to go on loan because he wants to play and then find that he is not playing as often as he needs but I can’t differentiate between a loan player and one who has a contract with us: I can only be fair and pick the players I think can help us most.”
“He needs to play and so far he has not had as many opportunities as I am sure he would like. He has to take the chances he gets to prove that he can play at the highest level. I have no doubt that he is a very good player but he still needs to consolidate himself.”
Alberto moved to Liverpool from Sevilla for £6.8m in the summer of 2013, but made just 12 appearances – ten of those from the bench – during his first campaign at Anfield.
With the Spaniard struggling for game-time on Merseyside, Brendan Rodgers opted to send him back to La Liga this season. Again, the youngster has failed to make much of an impact, although he has bagged a couple of goals.
Unfortunately, Alberto has been something of a victim of Malaga’s impressive form. The financially strapped club are currently seventh in the league table, and recently scored a surprise win over Alberto’s former club, Barcelona.
His future with Rodgers is looking progressively unclear, although he could yet be offered one final chance to rescue his Liverpool career during our next pre-season campaign. If he fails to impress, he’ll most likely be on the way out.