Jörg Schmadtke has completed an exciting loan transfer for Liverpool for a midfielder that will now be aiming to get closer to the first team squad in the future.
When Jörg Schmadtke was first appointed at Liverpool, one of the things that stood out about his tendencies as a sporting director was the high volume of loan deals he conducted while at Wolfsburg, and it seems like he is continuing the same policy at Liverpool.
But this isn’t an entirely new thing at Anfield. His predecessor, Julian Ward, was similarly effective in sending a high volume of Liverpool’s youngsters out on loan, and his track record speaks volumes with the likes of Conor Bradley and Tyler Morton benefiting most notably from their loan spells last season.
Schmadtke has already completed loan deals for the likes of Sepp van den Berg and Fábio Carvalho, but his latest might just be the best one yet. Liverpool confirmed on Wednesday morning that James Balagizi has been sent out on a loan spell to Wigan Athletic.
On paper, this doesn’t seem like a big deal for Liverpool. Balagizi is not a name many casual supporters will have heard of but he has been an exciting member of the club’s academy for some time now
A physically imposing midfielder with excellent technical ability and a lot of energy, Balagizi thrived last season while on loan at Crawley Town in League Two before his season was cut short with the youngster picking up a serious injury that saw him return to Liverpool after just 14 games in League Two.
That injury only saw Balagizi return to action at the end of the season coming on in Liverpool’s U21 side’s last game of the season. But now he seems to have left his injury problems behind him and looking ahead to pastures new at Wigan.
Still only 19 years old, Balagizi is an outstanding talent who has already represented England up to U20 level, and he has all the traits to be a top talent and even make it to Jürgen Klopp’s first team squad in the future.
Sending him out on loan to Wigan was also a masterstroke from Schmadtke. The League One side has top facilities; it wasn’t long ago that the club was competing in the Premier League and should dominate the division next season.
It has also recently undergone a new intriguing ownership change, which has seen the club’s recruitment adopt a data-led approach that will look to revive Wigan and build it anew. The fact that the club’s scouts picked up Balagizi as a potential player to recruit speaks volumes about his talent.
Liverpool’s midfield will be vastly different compared to last season, and while Balagizi will not be part of that change just yet, in the future he could very much still be involved in the Reds’ new-look set-up. The fact that he signed a new long-term contract at the club before being sent out on loan to Wigan is proof of that, too.
First, he has to prove himself in League One, and Schmadtke has set up the perfect conditions for him to do just that. For Balagizi, the goal should be to emulate the success of someone like Bradley on loan at Bolton Wanderers last season, and after that, he could have a good career ahead of him.
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