Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is not sure about the future of 22-year old winger Harry Wilson who has been impressive in the Reds’ pre-season matches.
Wilson spent the 18/19 season on loan at Derby County and had a fine stint with the Rams, netting 18 goals and providing 6 assists in 49 appearances across all competitions.
Following the expiration of his loan spell with Derby, Wilson returned to Liverpool and has featured in all of the club’s pre-season friendlies.
He scored a goal against Borussia Dortmund in an eventual 3-2 defeat for the Reds before scoring his second goal of the pre-season against Lyon yesterday. Wilson’s goal against Lyon was a brilliant left-footed strike outside the penalty area and it led to some Liverpool fans demanding that the club not sell him.
Harry Wilson makes 3 Liverpool 3 vs 1 Lyon pic.twitter.com/pU0VGhTqau
— Liver y_n_w_a (@Liverynwa2) July 31, 2019
Harry Wilson not for sale. What a rocket ?? https://t.co/XItGNnILYj
— Munachizo (@munatwistz) July 31, 2019
We have got to keep Harry Wilson. People say eh doesn’t run enough but neither did coutinho. Give the lad a chance.
What a hit son #lfc #liverpool #lyon pic.twitter.com/HCDiG2phtX
— Mark Edwards (@thenaughtibear) July 31, 2019
Wilson’s goal was Liverpool’s third of the match against Lyon and they won 3-1 despite the Ligue 1 club taking the lead through a Memphis Depay penalty.
Following the match, Jurgen Klopp praised the winger but remained coy on his future. As quoted by Liverpool’s official website, Klopp said: “We are in constant conversations, that’s clear. We have to do the right thing for us and for the boy. There is nothing to talk about in public about it, so we will see what happens in the next eight or nine days until the window closes.
“He is obviously a really good player and I was really happy with him in the whole pre-season; he came back from Derby in a completely different [shape].
“That’s a good example of how a loan can really work out – it was for Derby really good and for Harry as well. For us as well, which is good. I am happy for him that he could show that tonight again. He played not in his best position, he played left wing and did it really well. We tried to set it up a little bit so it is more comfortable for him with positioning and stuff like that. When he scored the goal, it was just Harry. Brilliant.”
Wilson’s performances in the pre-season games has attracted interest from a few clubs. In a report by Football Insider, Borussia Dortmund were interested in signing him while the Sun claimed that Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe is also interested in landing the 22-year old and is willing to pay Liverpool £25 million.
It will be very difficult for the Welshman to get playing time under Jurgen Klopp in the upcoming season as Liverpool already have the likes of Mohamed Salah and Xherdan Shaqiri on the right wing.
However, through his performance against Lyon, Wilson showed that he can play pretty well as a left winger too. Hence, Klopp might consider using him as a backup for Sadio Mane in the upcoming season as there is a very good chance that Wilson will find game time in the FA Cup, League Cup and maybe even in the Champions League.