Liverpool teenager Ben Woodburn is close to a season-long loan move to League One side Oxford United.
The Evening Standard report that the 19-year-old attacker will join Karl Robinson’s side for the 2019/20 Football League season in an attempt to get his once-promising career back on track.
The winger spent half of last season out on loan at Sheffield United under Chris Wilder, but the Wales international was unable to make an impression for the then Championship side, making just eight appearances in total.
Despite being in the spotlight after becoming Liverpool’s youngest ever goalscorer (per the Guardian) as well as Wales’ second youngest ever goalscorer (per Goal), Woodburn’s career seems to be at a crossroads.
Indeed, the failed spell at Sheffield United last year was the teenager’s first spell away from Anfield, but due to his lack of senior football for the Blades, a second chance at a club further down the footballing pyramid could be the best thing for Woodburn’s career.
At 19, Woodburn is heading into the period of his footballing life that many players in the past have called as the most crucial, with Christian Pulisic writing in The Players’ Tribune that the teenage years of a footballer are the most important, and the Liverpool youngster, despite his proven quality with both Liverpool and the Wales national team, should be taking the plunge into the English third-tier for consecutive game time.
“Very often, the first loan move doesn’t quite happen for different reasons,” is what Wales manager Ryan Giggs said about Woodburn via the Liverpool Echo when asked about the youngster’s failed spell at Sheffield United, and the former Manchester United winger’s words hold some truth.
Woodburn is still only 19-years-old and only at the start of his footballing career, and a move to Oxford in League One could be the best move for the youngster, who should be looking to play first-team football for most of next season.
Liverpool fans, will Woodburn be a success at Oxford? Let us know!
