One Liverpool youngster is very much a man in demand during the January transfer window, according to reports.
In the Daily Mail‘s Liverpool Confidential feature, it was claimed that Harvey Blair is likely to depart on loan this month, with League One trio Leyton Orient, Reading and Blackpool all showing an interest in the 20-year-old.
The latter are managed by former Reds underage coach Neil Critchley and are believed to have been monitoring the forward ‘for some time’.
Previously hailed as ‘excellent’ by Liverpool under-21 coach Barry Lewtas (liverpoolfc.com), Blair has been sidelined for most of the season so far due to a knee injury, only making his return in couple of matches for the Reds’ youth side last month (Transfermarkt).
His one senior appearance at the club came in a Carabao Cup over Preston in 2021/22 (Transfermarkt), and the forward is now at an age where he’ll surely be eager to build up first-team experience.
The prospect of teaming up with an LFC-linked coach in Critchley sounds appetising, particularly with Blackpool just four points off the play-off positions in League One.
However, the single most important factor in Liverpool choosing a loan destination for Blair must be the probability of regular game-time. The Reds have recalled several other youngsters recently after their temporary moves didn’t work out, and it’s not a practice that the club will want to become habitual.
If the 20-year-old is to be loaned out in January, it needs to be somewhere that he’d play regularly and get the first-team experience that his career requires at this juncture.
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