Super Deporte is reporting that Spanish side Valencia is interested in signing Liverpool new boy Tiago Ilori on loan as they seek to replace Adil Rami who is headed to AC Milan.
Liverpool signed 20-year old Ilori from Sporting Lisbon on transfer deadline day in the summer but the central defender has not featured yet for the Reds in a competitive match. Competition is stiff right now for centre backs at Liverpool as Sakho, Skrtel and Toure are the favoured pairing and vice captain Daniel Agger is still ahead of Ilori in the pecking order. So for Ilori to get a game in at Liverpool right now would be a hard task and maybe a move away on loan where he can get regular first team football would be great.
It then begs to ask the question, why did Rodgers sign Ilori if we have so much cover at centre back and the guy will not get a game in? Rodgers must have seen Ilori as one for the future as he was rated as a top prospect across the whole of Europe. It would be very unfair for a young player of his talents to continually be sitting on the bench, he needs to play. On the other hand, Brendan Rodgers may have thought that Skrtel and Agger may leave Liverpool in the summer with Skrtel being linked with a move to Napoli and Agger to Barcelona, and thus replacements were needed.
This situation reminds me of Sebastian Coates who Liverpool signed in 2011 and was dubbed the next big thing to come out of South America. Coates arrived at Liverpool with a lot of hype but the defender has failed to make an impact at the club with some saying he is simply not good enough for the English game whilst others blames Liverpool for not giving him enough game time. We must stop buying these young players if we are not going to give them a chance to play.
With the lack of European football this season at Liverpool and being out of the League Cup, there are very few games in the season for Rodgers to be trying to give everyone in the squad a run of games. The main focus is on the Premier League and trying to finish as high as possible and thus it would not be wise to field young inexperienced players in those games.
Even though Ilori only signed recently, a loan move to Valencia would be beneficial to all parties involved. Hopefully he can return a better player and challenge the current centre backs.