Rangers have the upper hand when it comes to landing players from Liverpool, and we believe Steven Gerrard should once again look to raid his former team to land Ben Woodburn in January. The Welsh international is currently on loan with Championship outfit Sheffield United where he has started just one game that too in the Carabao Cup tie.
Overall he has made just seven appearances in all competitions and off late the situation has worsened further. One cannot blame the Blades as they are tied with Middlesbrough at the top of the Championship table regarding points and giving a run out to someone with little experience is definitely risky.
Woodburn recently played a game for Liverpool’s u-23 against Derby County and the club should consider calling him back from this loan spell as he is unable to get regular playing minutes. In that case, the Bears can look to pounce on him and with Gerrard at the helm, they have a solid chance of getting this done. Rangers were interested in him in the summer window too.
The 19-year-old is Liverpool’s youngest ever goalscorer and is also consistently making the Wesh national team squad. His development has been halted in the last one or two seasons as he got minimal action with Liverpool’s first team in the 2017-18 campaign. The Reds would have hoped that shipping him to the Championship might give him more game time, but that also doesn’t seem to be happening.
The Welshman is traditionally a left winger, but he can play in the no.10 role as an attacking midfielder. That is the position where the Light Blues doesn’t seem to have a proper option after they sold Josh Windass in the summer. Ovie Ejaria and Scott Arfield are often being used in that role, but in our opinion, both of them are more suited to play in central midfield.
We have already seen what difference Ryan Kent has made in the Gers team and one can expect the same from Woodburn as well. His pace and dribbling skills are his prime assets, and along with that, Woodburn has a good eye for goal and is deadly in and around the penalty box.
The move though clearly hinges on Liverpool recalling the player first as the Blades have a season-long deal with him. However, recent developments suggest that there might be a good chance of that happening after Woodburn started playing for Liverpool’s u-23.
Gerrard would have seen the 19-year-old from close quarters as he worked with Liverpool’s u-18 side for quite some time and so he would be aware of his strength and weaknesses. He might take some time to get going in the Scottish Premiership but the youngster is worth considering in January after the Bears missed out on him in the summer.
