Former England international Danny Mills believes that Divock Origi could stay at Liverpool for another year before being given an ultimatum.
The Belgian international is now heading into the final season of his current Reds contract, and BBC pundit Mills feels that this year could be pivotal for him.
“A player of that quality, without a doubt you keep him,” he told Football Insider. “He will still understand he’s getting some game time, probably not as much as he would like, he’s at a side that’s just won the Champions League – he was integral to that.
“I’m pretty sure he wants to have at least another season where he can enjoy that glory of doing what he did at Liverpool and why shouldn’t he?”
When asked whether the 24-year-old may be tempted to run down his current contract, Mills replied: “Yeah, or if not, if Liverpool are sensible, they’ll say here’s another deal but if we get X amount at the end of the season, you can go and you do a deal that way. That then benefits everybody and I don’t think that would be a bad move for either.”
OPINION
There’s likely no one with a Liverpool affiliation who wants the Reds to cash in on Origi this summer after the miracles he performed down the stretch this season. He was a key man for Jurgen Klopp’s team, coming off the bench and making a huge impact with regularity. It’s extremely reasonable to say that without the Belgian Liverpool wouldn’t have won the Champions League – there’s no hyperbole there. However, is he someone who you want to keep around long-term when he’s likely never going to be a regular starter? That’s the dilemma the Reds find themselves in. If Origi has another tremendous campaign, making big impact in a small number of minutes, then it’s very likely that Liverpool will want to keep him around and will offer him a new deal as a result. That doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be averse to selling him once his future is secured, though. It would be smart business for them to tie Origi down to a long-term contract, increasing his value in the process, and then sell him on for a massive transfer fee shortly after.
