Jurgen Klopp has praised the pre-season performances of young forward Ben Woodburn.
The 18-year-old was included in the club’s pre-season tour of the USA this summer, featuring in the 4-1 win against Premier League rivals Manchester United on Saturday.
The Welsh striker only made two appearances for the Reds last season, but has made 11 appearances in his Anfield career overall, scoring one goal.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp praised the performances of his young players after the clash against United and reserved special praise for Woodburn.
“All the young boys who came on are in really good shape this pre-season,” Klopp told the Liverpool Echo.
“Sheyi is a really confident boy as he showed tonight, not only around the penalty when he sent Daniel Sturridge away! You need balls to do that!
“Ben Woodburn is 100% back for example. How it is with young boys, from time to time the improvement doesn’t go day by day, but he has played such a good pre-season.”
OPINION
Jurgen Klopp is going to have a really tough choice on his hands with Ben Woodburn ahead of next season. The 18-year-old is clearly a huge talent and is capable of playing in the Liverpool first-team, but with the raft of new signings this summer, his pathway has been somewhat blocked and he needs regular first-team football. Does the German manager keep him at the club, training with the first-team and playing regularly for the youth team? Or, does he send him out on loan in order to get regular minutes on the pitch and learn the rigours of the senior game? It’s a tough choice to make because one bad loan spell could destroy a youngsters confidence, but a good one could equally be the making of them. Let’s face it, Woodburn isn’t going to displace Sadio Mane, Mohammed Salah, Roberto Firmino or Xherdan Shaqiri, with Danny Ings and Dominic Solanke potentially also ahead of him in the first-team squad pecking order. A loan spell might be best for all parties.
