Liverpool and Wales midfielder Ben Woodburn is set for a shock loan move to League One Oxford United, according to The Daily Mail.
The Welsh international will be moving to the Kassam in search of consistent first-team football, something that cannot be guaranteed back at Anfield. Although the attacker played a part in Liverpool’s pre-season tour of the USA, he was one of three Liverpool players axed from the squad who played Napoli in Scotland and was not named in Jurgen Klopp’s 29 man squad for a training camp in France.
Although a loan was likely, the shock factor comes with the fact that he will be dropping to the third tier after he showed such flair and promise at a much higher level. Woodburn remains Liverpool’s youngest ever goalscorer after he broke Michael Owen’s Liverpool age record by scoring against Leeds aged 17 years 45 days. Despite this promise, the versatile attacker struggled on loan last season in the Championship at Sheffield United, with his loan at Bramall Lane being cut short after making only 7 appearances.
Woodburn would bring an unprecedented amount of talent to Karl Robinson’s Oxford United side, where he will line up against the likes of former Premier League sides like Portsmouth and Sunderland alongside the likes Accrington Stanley and Lincoln City. Oxford fans will be hoping for a much more consistent season, after a bumpy campaign last year which saw them flirt with the possibility of relegation to League Two, but ultimately found form and finished 12th with 60 points – 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
