True. Ox is probably gone in January if he wants regular football, just like Shaq.
In our midfield Hendo and Fab are set, but then honestly I‘d already play Elliott before! Keita before Thiago/Jones.
Klopp doesn't have a significant history of sending established first team players out on loan in the middle of the season in January.
As listed below, in the last 4 years the only players to go on loan in January as first team players were Minamino, Clyne, and Sturridge. Brewster, Grujic, Phillips, etc also went on loans in January but none of those could be considered first team regulars at the time of the loan.
January 2021- Minamino to Southampton
Van den Berg to Preston
January 2020
Brewster to Swansea
Phillips to Stuttgart
January 2019- Clyne to Bournemouth
Grabara to AGF
Ejaria to Reading
Awoniyi to Royal Excel Mouscron
Chirivella to Extremadura
Allan to Fluminense
January 2018- Kent to Bristol City
Grujic to Cardiff
Sturridge to WBA
Ejaria to Sunderland
Wilson to Hull
Markovic to Anderlecht
Flanagan to Bolton
As for the aforementioned trio, Clyne was on his way out and Klopp had clearly decided by then that Trent was his man at RB. Due to injuries Sturridge had fallen down the pecking order at Liverpool and so being sent out on loan mid-season did not significantly impact the team on the pitch. Minamino is perhaps the best example, but even he had extenuating circumstances being that he was completely new to English football and simply needed to get games to adapt to the PL quicker.
All that is to say that it seems highly unlikely that Klopp would sanction a move where he weakens his first team squad halfway through the season, especially considering that AFCON will take Keita, Salah, and Mane and that Ox would likely be the player deputising for one of them in their absence, either in CM or on the wing.
EDIT: I suppose Ox could be sold in January instead of loaned, but then again Coutinho is the only notable first team player to have been sold in January in recent windows, and that was done in conjunction with the Van Dijk signing the same week so is obviously an outlier. Both the Coutinho and VVD transfer sagas played a big part in those deals only being done in January rather than in the summer too.
All that to say that Klopp and Edwards clearly have a strong preference for getting business done early in the summer and keeping the team together for the full season.
« Last Edit: Aug 21, 2021 09:24:02 pm by Richard88 »
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