With news that Liverpool look set to release young Adam Morgan for free, it is worth a look to see some of the players that Liverpool have released in seasons gone by that the club may have been better off keeping for a season or two more to see how they develop.
It is always a difficult situation when a club releases or sells a player. There may be other mitigating reasons at that time as to why the player has to leave. But here are five players I feel the club should have hung onto for a bit longer and seen how they do in the Red shirt:
1) Nuri Sahin
Brendan Rodgers signed Nuri Sahin on loan from Real Madrid having beaten off Arsenal for his signature. This was seen as a major signing for the Reds as Sahin was highly regarded across Europe and failed to make his mark at Real Madrid due to injury. Joining Liverpool was meant to be his chance to show everyone again how good he is.
Sahin had a decent start to his Reds career as he managed to score three goals in the space of four days. What Sahin really needed was more game time to build up his fitness but the pace of the Premier League seemed to be a bit too much for him. It was said that Sahin would have done better playing in Gerrard’s position but there was no way he was ever going to displace the Liverpool captain. But now with Gerrard getting on in age, it may have been wise to hold onto Sahin for longer and let him eventually become Gerrard’s successor as he is still only 25-years old.
But alas in January 2013 he was loaned to his first club, Borussia Dortmund, for the remainder of the season. After returning to Germany Sahin played in fifteen Bundesliga matches in the second half of the 2012/13 season, scoring three times. He also appeared three times in the Champions League as Dortmund progressed to the Wembley final.
Had Sahin stayed on a bit longer at Liverpool he could have adjusted to the pace and physicality of the Premier League and hopefully turned into a star. He certainly possesses the technical ability to do so.
