Liverpool have interesting stance on England international, who’s started just 4 times in 18 months

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Despite sending him out on loan to Bournemouth in January, Liverpool may yet start the new season with Nathaniel Clyne as part of the squad.

According to Ian Doyle in the Echo, Clyne has not given any indication that he wants to leave yet, so Liverpool may be happy to keep hold of the England international and use him as Trent Alexander-Arnold’s primary backup.

The right-back’s contract expires in 2020, but Jurgen Klopp has shown with the likes of Daniel Sturridge and Alberto Moreno, that he’s happy to keep senior players whose deals are running out on his bench until they depart on a Bosman, rather than cashing in a year early.

A lot depends on if any Premier League clubs make concrete moves, of course. We can imagine Clyne’s former club Crystal Palace will be quite keen, having lost Aaron Wann-Bissaka this summer to Manchester United.

At EOTK, we like Clyne as a rotation option, and actually think he’s a better right-back than Joe Gomez, who while a sensational central defender, struggles to provide the necessary offensive thrust required of players on our flanks.

This is a criticism also directed at Clyne, of course, but our struggles at right-back last season, when both James Milner and Jordan Henderson filled in there during damaging draws with Manchester United and Leicester City respectively, suggest he’s worth keeping around.

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