It was always going to be a case of ‘when’, not ‘if’, as far as this Liverpool defender exiting the club was concerned. It’s clear that John Arne Riise has been surplus to requirements for some time at Anfield, and it’s only right that the Norwegian be allowed to move on and enjoy first-team football elsewhere. The Daily Mail report that Roma hope to seal the deal this week, thus bringing an end to weeks of speculation surrounding the Norwegian’s future.
John Arne Riise is expected to complete a £5million move to Roma this week after describing his frustration at being left on the fringes of Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool squad.
The Norway left back has been a Roma target for weeks and finally looks to be heading for Serie A after they had a bid accepted by Liverpool.
Riise has found starting opportunities increasingly hard to come by under Benitez and admitted: ‘I need to be playing and to be in a team where I can get better, because I know I can improve,’ he said.
‘When you change clubs, you get a new set of challenges and it can kickstart things for you.”
Liverpool fans will surely be sad to hear that Riise has played his last game for the club, yet not really that gutted that he’s leaving. This appeared to be the right time to move on, especially with Benitez wanting to draft in a new influx of talent which will hopefully lead to more clean sheets next season.