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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp shuts down Brendan Rodgers transfer wish with public gesture
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has done his predecessor Brendan Rodgers no favours in the transfer market.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has publicly denied Brendan Rodgers the chance to sign starlet Owen Beck on loan for the remainder of the season. The young defender came on in the 4-0 win away to Bournemouth on Sunday and his appearance off the bench forced Celtic to end their interest in the Welshman.
Beck was recalled from his loan at Dundee due to Liverpool’s injury crisis, with fellow left-backs Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas both sidelined. Joe Gomez has covered on that flank, with Beck returning from Scotland to provide further competition.
However, having already made 20 appearances for Dundee this season before heading back to Anfield, FIFA rules prohibit players from featuring for more than two teams in one season.
Beck had yet to play for Liverpool since his loan was cut short, giving Celtic hope that they could still prise him away after being impressed with his performances in the Scottish Premiership.
The Scottish Sun claimed that both Celtic and Rangers had approaches turned down by Liverpool earlier this month because he was being considered to feature in the FA Cup victory over Arsenal.
However, a suspension carried over from his time in Scotland scuppered those plans and with Robertson and Tsimikas stepping up their comebacks, there was a prospect of Beck not making an appearance and still being eligible to move to Celtic and link up with ex-Liverpool boss Rodgers.
But with Beck’s seven-minute cameo at the end of Liverpool’s rout at Bournemouth, he reached his limit for teams played for in the same season and any Celtic or Rangers transfer plans have since been ruined.
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There is still a chance that he could return to Dundee on loan after Tony Docherty’s side were upset that Beck was recalled by Liverpool. However, Klopp has played down the chances of Beck being loaned out for a second time, despite impressing away from the Reds after "difficult" spells with Famalicao and Bolton previously.
“It was good (Beck’s time at Dundee),” Klopp said at the start of January. “So, we always saw and were pretty positive about Owen but then he had two really difficult loan spells, which was a surprise that it didn’t work out because of what we thought about Owen.
"But that’s how it is, especially with young boys when you send them away from home and stuff like this. Plenty of things can happen there and it always needs to fit really well – it must be the right manager, must be the right team.
"If you have another left-back there and he has experience… there are so many things [that] can make a loan spell not really happening. That was probably for him the case and now in Dundee it was fine. He made big steps, and now the situation here is clear: we lose two of our left-backs so we think it makes sense if a boy we like is available for us, we bring him back. That’s all.”