OPINION
Liverpool winger Sheyi Ojo could find himself in a very frustrating scenario with Aston Villa looking likely to win the race to sign 29-year-old Yannick Bolasie on loan.
Dominic King, who is the North West football reporter for the Daily Mail, shared via their personal Twitter account on Thursday that Bolasie’s move from Everton to the Villans was expected to go through later in the day.
Yannick Bolasie‘s move to Aston Villa expected to go through today. Clubs have been in discussion over the finer points of his contract. Villa would not take on responsibility for his full salary. Underwent a medical on Tuesday ?
— Dominic King (@DominicKing_DM) August 23, 2018
While Bolasie and Ojo are both versatile enough wingers to be deployed on either flank, meaning they could fit in the same team, Goal’s update on the Reds pacey attacker’s potential exit suggested that the Villans moving for Bolasie may stop them pursuing Ojo.
Goal reported that Aston Villa were believed to be in pole position to sign Ojo on loan but with them now set to sign Bolasie that the Reds would consider hearing from other suitors.
This update appeared to imply that the Villans had moved for Bolasie at the expense of borrowing the services of the Reds’ speed demon.
With time ticking down to get his exit sealed and no other clubs specifically named in the race for Ojo at this stage then it means the frustrating scenario that the winger could stay at Anfield until January is a real possibility.
The 21-year-old is unlikely to get enough opportunities to regularly feature in Jurgen Klopp’s side given the tough competition for places and is at a stage of his career where he needs to be featuring almost every week in order to develop.
In fact the German manager actually previously stated that in his opinion the best case scenario was for Ojo to depart on a temporary basis which implies how little action he will see if he stays at Anfield.
“Ojo played a fantastic pre-season, really good and confident technically anyway, really strong, improved a lot in tactical things and his attitude was great,” said Klopp, as quoted by Sky Sports.
“For me, he is a no-brainer, to be honest, and I think that will happen. It makes sense for him to go on loan.
After getting a respectable amount of football while on loan at Fulham last season, he made 24 appearances for them, and having a stellar pre-season it will be a frustrating time if he then ends up only experiencing U-23s football with the Reds for the first-half of the season as that could see his development stall.
Given that the Villans who are thought to be the front-runners for his services are on course to borrow Bolasie instead of Ojo then this scenario is now a real possibility for the speed demon unless someone makes a late approach for his services.
