Jurgen Klopp has revealed that he was blown away by Divock Origi in training during the Belgian’s battle to regain a first team spot at Liverpool.
The 24-year-old spent the season before last in Germany with Wolfsburg, but struggled to make an impact upon his return to Merseyside last term.
Since then, however, he has reestablished himself as an important asset for Klopp, scoring a flurry of crucial goals in the latter stages of the Champions League.
The forward has been rewarded for his efforts with a new deal, as confirmed by the club, and his manager has revealed the moment that convinced him he still had a part to play.
As quoted in the Echo, he said: “It was not easy to come in and he couldn’t gain confidence and stuff like that. Going on loan to Wolfsburg, it didn’t really work out there, coming back, thinking about leaving and then the season starts and yeah, it’s not a miracle, but it’s the nice part of the story then.
“He grew and grew and grew, in training sessions you could see it: ‘Wow!’ It was then not sure about the centre so he played a couple of games on the left wing.
“He did well there, it’s obviously not his natural position but he can play it in a specific way, in a very offensive way.”
OPINION
Origi has more than earned his new contract at Liverpool, and the precedent this sets for other squad members is really positive too. The fact that a player like him, so deep in the wilderness this time last year, has been able to fight his way back into Jurgen Klopp’s plans shows that is more than possible for players to turn themselves around at Anfield, and that will no doubt do wonders for morale. As for Origi himself, he has an awful lot to offer the Reds next term. With a goal every 72 minutes in the Champions League [Transfermarkt], and a dispossession rate of just 0.8 times per match [Whoscored], he has shown that he is the ideal battling hitman, and with him in the squad, the Reds look to have a much deeper and richer array of attacking options. If he continues on this trajectory, Origi could even force his way into the starting line up.
