View: Liverpool right to cut ties with youth flop Billy Koumetio amid Arne Slot decision
Liverpool will let Billy Koumetio leave the club this summer with Dundee United eyeing up a move for the defender.
As per Marc Mechenoua (17 July), the Reds are negotiating with the Scottish Premiership side in a deal that will end Koumetio’s five-year stay at Anfield.
The 21-year-old was omitted from Arne Slot’s pre-season squad last week and is free to leave the club this summer (Dave OCKOP, 9 July).
Koumetio failed to live up to the early Liverpool hype
Koumetio will join the long list of ‘what ifs’ from the AXA Academy when he eventually departs the Reds.
He showed promise of developing into a first-team regular following his move from US Orliens in 2019 and was tipped for a bright future at Anfield.
The French centre-back was among the substitutes for the Reds’ Community Shield against Arsenal in 2020.
Jurgen Klopp was impressed with his performances during the pre-season camp in Austria and made plans to integrate him into the first team (This is Anfield, 31 August 2020).
It did not pan out that way for Koumetio and he made one sole appearance that season in a Champions League tie against FC Midtjylland.
At the time, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones were the only notable players in the first team that graduated from the academy.
The emergence of Koumetio was met with the same hope but in retrospect was a classic example of the media and perhaps Liverpool themselves, overhyping the player.
He has failed to grasp his chances, both of his loan moves to Austria Wien and USL Dunkerque ended early, and he made just one appearance for Blackburn Rovers in the second half of the season last term.
His omission from pre-season marks a bitter end of a player who seemed destined to become a first-team regular for years to come, but Liverpool are right to lick their wounds and cut losses on a player who failed to live up to their potential.
In other Liverpool news, Liverpool have confirmed a new backroom appointment for Arne Slot.
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