Watching players develop on loan and assessing whether they are ready for the first team is one of the biggest things done at the top Premier League sides, but it can be hard to keep track of where all the hottest prospects are. Fortunately, we’ve done the hard work.
101 takes a look at how Liverpool’s on-loan stars got on. Bookmark 101Liverpool to stay across everything Reds.
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📰 Table Of Contents
Rhys Williams (Blackpool)
Williams had a day to forget, with Blackpool boss Michael Appleton hooking the youngster at half time in their 3-3 draw with Bristol City.
He later told the press: “He’s got a little bit of a knock, but sometimes you don’t have your best afternoon and he’s had better afternoons than he did in the first half.
“We just felt bringing Jud on, who is naturally left-sided, would give us that option to play better balls into the strikers.
“That wasn’t the reason why we made the change, we just felt he was having one of those days which young players do. He will come stronger, come back for Wednesday if his ankle holds up.”
Tyler Morton (Blackburn Rovers)
Conor Bradley (Bolton Wanderers)
Bradley won just 6 of his 14 duels as his Bolton side fell to successive defeats, losing 2-0 away to Plymouth Argyle.
James Balagizi (Crawley Town)
Balagizi starred for Crawley as they knocked Premier League Fulham out of the Carabao Cup courtesy of a 2-0 scoreline, with the 18-year-old grabbing the second goal just after half time.
Former Arsenal U23s coach and current Crawley Town boss Kevin Betsy admitted that Balagizi was far too good to be playing for Crawley Town.
“I’ve known James a long time, I worked with him with England when he was 15, so I know the family,” said Betsy.
“These are the things when your connections are able to bring a player like him to the football club. We had no right really to be signing a player of his quality.
“But the relationship that we have and the trust Liverpool have in us as coaches to give their players to us and allow them to flourish and progress speaks volumes for what we know we can do with young players.
“James, hopefully he’s going to have a fantastic career going forward, and this is the early steps of understanding men’s football and he’s doing a really good job.”
Balagizi then grabbed an assist in first half stoppage time for Crawley Town to open the scoring in their League Two game, but could not prevent his side from being pegged back on the hour mark, and Crawley were eventually forced to settle for a point.
Adam Lewis (Newport County)
Adam Lewis was an unused substitute as Newport romped home to a 4-0 win over Harrogate Town.
Leighton Clarkson (Aberdeen)
Deployed further forward in midfield and unlucky not to grab an assist, Clarkson was taken off just before the hour mark as Aberdeen coasted home to a 5-0 win over Livingston.
