View: Liverpool have pulled off a masterstroke with Bobby Clark sale
Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes has pulled off a masterstroke with the impending sale of Bobby Clark to RB Salzburg.
The Reds have agreed to sell the midfielder to RB Salzburg for £10m [BBC Sport, 14 August] and he will become the latest youth player to leave the club after Fabio Carvalho signed for Brentford.
Clark made 12 appearances under Jurgen Klopp last season and has been the subject of interest from Rangers and Leeds United for a loan move however, he will complete a permanent exit from Anfield pending confirmation.
Arne Slot and Richard Hughes have placed the youth stars on the chopping block this summer and the latest move while it may not seem like it, is an excellent deal for the club.
Liverpool to sell Bobby Clark to RB Salzburg
The move to Austria is a bold one for Clark to make at this stage of his career but those decisions are the ones that pay off in football, look at Jude Bellingham.
Not to say that Clark will have a similar impact in Salzburg but he is moving to a top-level European club to work under a manager he knows well in Pep Ljinders.
Liverpool fans will be scratching their heads at how the club are allowing one of their most exciting young talents to leave when his Anfield career was beginning but in the long-term, this is a deal that benefits the side.
Harvey Elliott is the only notable example of a youth player who benefitted from a loan move, he spent the 2020/21 season at Blackburn Rovers in the Championship and has since developed into a first team regular.
Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Ryan Gravenberch, Curtis Jones and Elliott all stand in Clark’s way to first team football this season and despite his impressive displays last term, it’s hard to find a place for him among all the talent in the side.
The Reds have included a 17.5 per cent sell-on clause in the deal which is a smart move in any sale but have also included a first-refusal clause, allowing the club to re-sign Clark should he reach his potential in Austria [Anfield Index, 15 August].
With that in mind, the deal is essentially a loan with an option to buy should he become a player capable of playing for the Reds in the future or a sale with £10m pure profit should he not.
In other Liverpool news, Liverpool predicted XI v Ipswich.
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