Liverpool accepting Fulham’s £15m offer for fringe Anfield star would be a blunder and Klopp must avoid it

Why Liverpool cannot let go of Divock Origi this month

According to a report in Sun Football, Fulham boss Claudio Ranieri is ready to pay £15m to sign Liverpool striker Divock Origi. The former Leicester City manager has been given the money to strengthen his squad in the quest for survival in top-flight football. The London-based club are looking to get the fringe striker from Anfield by this week.

The Belgian scored a last-gasp winner against Everton in the Merseyside derby earlier in the season to send the Liverpool fans crazy. As per the report, he will be allowed to leave the Reds if the deal is good, as he has not been getting enough time on the pitch.

Fulham owner Shahid Khan is fine with providing the funds to Ranieri in order to enhance the quality of the team. However, here’s why Liverpool shouldn’t let go of Origi during this month.

Liverpool need backup in forward department

We enter the crunch part of the season where the FA Cup has started and the Champions League would be around the corner soon. This is where the durability of a squad challenging on all fronts comes to the fore. Liverpool are leading the league and have a tough European encounter against Bayern Munich awaiting. They kickstart their FA Cup campaign tonight as well.

Hence, it is time for Jurgen Klopp to use his squad to the maximum depth and manage the playing minutes of some of the big guns. Hence, they cannot really sell Divock Origi in January, especially after letting go of Dominic Solanke.

As of now, the Reds have their usual front three and Xherdan Shaqiri as front-running options, with Daniel Sturridge and Divock as the backups for one/two of those forward positions. Adam Lallana is more of an asset to the midfield and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain won’t be back before March.

Hence, selling one of the mainstream backup strikers would be slightly risky. It is true that Origi hasn’t played much but the other argument is that Liverpool were knocked out of the EFL Cup quite early. So Klopp never had a chance to use the Belgian thus far. He could be a difference-maker in the FA Cup games and can force the manager’s mind through that competition.

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It is important from the club’s viewpoint that they make a run in the cup this season, and using backup strikers would be of utmost importance then. Unless they have a replacement ready, Fulham’s interest in Origi should be waved off.