Bobby Clark is set to join Red Bull Salzburg this week after Liverpool agreed a savvy deal with the Austrian outfit

Bobby Clark with Ben Doak and James McConnell after the Carabao Cup Final (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

It was short.

But just like that, Bobby Clark's Liverpool career is heading for an unexpected conclusion.

It feels like it was only yesterday that the 19-year-old was soaking up the post-match festivities of an unforgettable afternoon at Wembley as he - and fellow academy graduates James McConnell, Jarell Quansah and Jayden Danns - played a starring role in Liverpool's defeat of Chelsea in the League Cup final back in February.

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That the England youth international was summoned by Jurgen Klopp late in the second half as Liverpool looked to wrestle back control of the contest from Mauricio Pochettino's side was the clearest indication of just how highly his talents were rated at Anfield.

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And that this particularly impressive cameo - against the most expensive midfielder partnership ever assembled in world football, Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez - came so soon after moving from his boyhood club Newcastle United to Liverpool in 2021, would have surely even been beyond Clark's wildest dreams.

This week, however, will see the teenager end his three-year stint with the Reds as he prepares to travel to Austria to complete a £10m move to Red Bull Salzburg and, in doing so, seal a reunion with Pep Lijnders.

The news of his departure after a breakthrough campaign at Anfield, in which he featured 12 times across all competitions, has prompted some involuntary head-scratching by some quarters of the Reds' fanbase, with the midfielder tipped for a successful career at the club by none other than Lijnders back in January 2022.

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But for Liverpool, evaluating interest in Clark is nothing new.

Last summer, League One Derby County were close to bringing the midfielder to Pride Park on a season-long loan, while fresh approaches from sides in the Football League back in January were rebuffed as Klopp made assurances to Clark over playing time in a bid to keep him at Anfield.

Sanctioning a permanent transfer to Red Bull Salzburg, then, is not something Liverpool have taken lightly after assessing Clark's rapid development over the last 12 months.

In fact, it was last August on the opening weekend of the Premier League 2 season that Clark, and others knocking on the door of the Liverpool first-team, were challenged by Barry Lewtas to prove in the mini-Merseyside derby against Everton that they were above the required level for reserve team football.

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That night Clark delivered everything and more asked of him by Lewtas in the pre-match team meeting as he laid on two assists in the Reds' 4-0 thrashing of the Blues.

From then on he would only appear for Lewtas' under-21 side a handful more times before the end of the season, with some of those appearances part of his recovery from injury, as it was quickly recognised that he was cut above the level required for PL2 action at Kirkby.

Such performances, though, didn't automatically translate to a ton of first-team minutes as Clark's most prosperous stint under Klopp came in February and March as Liverpool endured a remarkable injury crisis that saw midfielders Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, Curtis Jones, Thiago Alcantara, Ryan Gravenberch and Stefan Bajcetic all sidelined.

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And entirely befitting of the injury crisis that plagued L4 just days after that Wembley triumph over Chelsea, he started the FA Cup fifth-round tie against Southampton in midfield alongside McConnell and Joe Gomez.

Eventually, though, Clark would earn his opportunities and, as a result, was thrust into the starting XI for March's Premier League win at Nottingham Forest before scoring his first and only goal for the club in the second leg of the Europa League tie against Sparta Prague two weeks later.

But the high of netting a first goal in senior football was quickly followed by the hard-hitting reality of the competition that awaits a team like Liverpool, with only six minutes afforded to the 19-year-old in the coming weeks before his season was curtailed by injury.

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And it was during those early months of spring when Liverpool looked to turn the screw in the quest for Premier League and Europa League glory as they welcomed back a plethora of first-teamers that those close to Clark expressed the need for him to consider a temporary exit away from Anfield this summer in a bid to gain regular first-team experience.

So fast forward only a few months later and as Clark prepares to begin a new chapter in the Austrian Bundesliga, it is indeed a canny move for both he and Liverpool that retains the possibility of both parties reuniting at some point in the future.

The £10m deal will see Liverpool bank over six times the initial £1.5m outlay they made in 2021.

Clark, on the other hand, will be reunited with two coaches from Liverpool's old regime - Lijnders and Vitor Matos - who were crucial in his ascent through the Anfied ranks and will now hand him the opportunity to showcase his skills in a competitive league with a healthy track record for nurturing talent and, potentially, the Champions League.

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At Anfield, meanwhile, the immediate cash injection will aid Liverpool's coffers in the short term and continue their strong position in adhering to the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules.

That would not be the case if Clark had been lent to one of the several Championship sides that had expressed an interest in the midfielder this summer, with the Reds then only set for a paltry loan fee in those circumstances.

Nevertheless, Liverpool have protected themselves from missing out on the benefits of Clark's successful career if all goes to plan in Austria as a 17.5% sell-on clause and a buy-back option have been written into the deal.

Of course, Liverpool are not the first Premier League club in PSR-obsessed times to insert such clauses into deals involving highly-regarded youngsters, with Aston Villa constructing similar deals for Jaden Philogene and Cameron Archer last year before both players made a return to Villa Park this summer.

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And at a time when teams in the Premier League are learning that cash flow is key to on-field success, this surely won't be the last we see of such savvy deals.

Liverpool, though, could be getting ahead of the transfer curve once more with this latest slick bit of business.

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