Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool have decided to put their eggs in Cameron Brannagan‘s basket.
The club has rejected a £1m offer from Championship side Wigan, who were also told the 20-year-old isn’t available on loan, according to the Echo.
Liverpool are adamant that Brannagan will play a role in the first-team squad this term, and flatly informed the Latics that he wasn’t for sale.
Whether this will have repercussions on our own search for central enforcements has yet to be seen.
The midfielder broke through last term, but was used sporadically despite impressing when selected by the manager.
Brannagan made nine appearances in total, and will hope to better that in 2016/17 despite the fact we won’t have the Europa League group stages in which to blood youngsters.
Stylistically, he has great feet and demands the ball. He can play one-twos or ping longer, more elegant passes. He’s not physically very strong yet, so relies on his technical ability to get his body between the opponent and the ball.
If he’s to forge a career for himself at Anfield, Brannagan will have to compete with the likes of Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Joe Allen, Emre Can and new signing Marko Grujic for likely two positions. This will not be easy, but the fact we’ve rejected an approach so unanimously is a serious vote of confidence.