Jürgen Klopp’s final season proved to be special for a group of Liverpool youngsters. The departing Reds boss has never been afraid to start players when they are ready, but this campaign has often been about need.
Conor Bradley and Jarell Quansah have established themselves as first-team regulars and can expect even bigger roles next season. Players like Jayden Danns, Bobby Clark and James McConnell also stepped up to the plate, featuring at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final success over Chelsea.
In 2019, Klopp looked set to give teenage striker Bobby Duncan a first-team role after being called up to join the squad for pre-season. Duncan, who is a cousin of Reds legend Steven Gerrard, found the net in a 6-0 friendly win over Tranmere after shining at academy level.
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But it was from that moment that his relationship deteriorated. His agent Saif Rubie has accused Liverpool of “mentally bullying” the teenager after he rejected two loan offers for his services. Rubie went on to claim that Duncan had not left the house for days and would not return to the club, with Liverpool vehemently denying the allegations.
-Klopp insisted Duncan was still part of his plans, telling the Guardian: “Bobby is one of our young players; we really, really care about our young players. The big problem they might have is that they lose patience because life is like that.
“You have to get there step by step. If you’re Lionel Messi you can play for Barcelona at 17 but you don’t see that very often. It’s possible but it’s mostly a question of patience.”
Klopp’s advice was not followed and Duncan completed a permanent move to Fiorentina on the final day of the transfer window. He never played for the Serie A side and was back in England a year later at Derby County.
Duncan, who is only 22, played in Spain’s fourth division last season. He blames Rubie for the sad story and responded to his agent on social media in September 2022, writing: “I had no decision. You took it upon yourself to jeopardize my career and lure a local boy away from his boyhood club, and leave me and my family to pick up the pieces.
“I should never have put my career in your hands. I have learned my lesson and I pray you have learned yours because it could ruin another young boy’s career.”
Rubie went on trial this week and found not guilty of sending a threatening email to former Chelsea chief Marina Granovskaia. The case concerned the transfer of Kurt Zouma to West Ham in 2022, with Rubie believing he was owed commission on the transfer fee as he felt he had acted as an intermediary on behalf of Chelsea.
