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There has arguably never been a better time to be a young player at Liverpool.
The Reds have stepped up their game enormously over recent years in regards to the academy, with plenty of youngsters now viable options for the senior team.
And as a full debut for 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha showed once again last Saturday, the chances will come for those who show they are good enough to take them.
Ngumoha has been one beneficiary of Liverpool’s push to target some of the best young talent from around Britain, after new Brexit rules came into play in January 2021.
Another to have been snatched up as part of that drive was then Aberdeen prospect Calvin Ramsay.
Since his move to Anfield in 2022, Ramsay has had a nightmare few years.
But while a new loan move back to Scotland with Kilmarnock may represent his final chance to have a future at Liverpool, Ramsay simultaneously could yet be presented with a huge opportunity.
Photo by Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images
When Ramsay was signed it was not to go into the Liverpool academy.
The right-back was brought in to join the senior Liverpool squad.
With Conor Bradley out on-loan at Bolton, Ramsay was due to be the direct understudy for Trent Alexander-Arnold.
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There were even reports that Klopp viewed Ramsay as Alexander-Arnold’s long-term successor.
Fast forward two-and-a-half years and Bradley has clearly emerged as the player Liverpool are more likely to pin their hopes on.
READ MORE: What Liverpool are thinking about Calvin Ramsay after sending him on-loan to Kilmarnock
As Alexander-Arnold is looking more likely to leave than ever at the end of this season, it’s a good bet that Bradley will be Liverpool’s starting right-back next season.
But the Northern Irishman will need an understudy, too.
And if Ramsay can stay injury free and show his quality up in Scotland, there’s no reason the 21-year-old cannot return in that very role.
It may feel harsh to say about such a young player, but Ramsay’s move to Kilmarnock really feels like a make or break moment for the Scotland international.
Although his loss was very much Bradley’s – and perhaps therefore Liverpool’s – gain in 2022/23, it should be remembered that Ramsay was once the higher rated of the two right-backs.
Nevertheless, the former Aberdeen youngster has made just 18 appearances combined on-loan at Preston, Bolton and Wigan.
That does not bode well for a future at Liverpool.
Photo by Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images
But the Reds signed Ramsay after what he showed in the Scottish Premiership as an 18-year-old and if he can come back to being that player once more, he could yet jump into the spot Bradley looks set to vacate next season.
If things go the other way for Ramsay, though, then you’d have to say that’s curtains for his chances of making it back at Anfield.
It’s a big few months for the youngster and he’s certainly on his last opportunity to impress, but the rewards could still be massive.
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