What happened to Jordon Ibe - the ex-Liverpool player once compared to Raheem Sterling | OneFootball

Highlights

When Raheem Sterling departed Liverpool in 2015 to join Manchester City for £50 million, the Reds found themselves searching for a young player to rest their hopes on for the coming season. The man identified to be a long-term successor was already within the club as Jordon Ibe was tipped to make the step up to become a more regular fixture in the starting line-up.

Sterling's exit was a huge blow for Brendan Rodgers' side ahead of the 2015/16 season after the English winger had contributed to 15 league goals the season prior while leading the line for the majority of the campaign due to the poor form of Rickie Lambert and Mario Balotelli as well as the injury issues faced by Daniel Sturridge.

Ibe had made a breakthrough into the first-team plans during that season after returning from an impressive loan spell with Derby County in January 2015. He didn't get the opportunity to show his true potential going forward upon his return to Anfield as he was brought into the team in a wide midfield role that held plenty of defensive responsibility as Rodgers was deploying a three at the back formation at the time.

This allowed the majority of the glory to go to Sterling, but his teammate did begin to pick up more and more admirers as the season wore on despite being used in an unfamiliar role. As is sometimes the case, some may have gone overboard in the hyping up of the English teenager, but very big things were expected going forward.

Jordon Ibe's Liverpool career

John Aldridge was one of the men to heap the praise on Ibe in the wake of Sterling's move to the Etihad by claiming Ibe could be a better player than the City-bound forward as he said, per TNT Sport: "Raheem is obviously a hugely talented player but Liverpool have a top replacement in Jordan Ibe. I’ve been watching Jordan play since he was 15. He’s a terrific player and has bags of potential."

If that wasn't enough to give panicked Liverpool fans a reason to be excited about the future, the Liverpool legend's follow-up comments would have done just that as he added: "I’ve been watching Jordan play since he was 15. He’s a terrific player and has bags of potential."

This is definitely not how things panned out as Liverpool began the 2015/16 Premier League season in disastrous form which then led to Rodgers' sacking in October and the arrival of Jurgen Klopp. The arrival of the German manager saw a change in the tactical set-up and Ibe found his game time become limited, mainly being utilised in the Europa League sparingly.

Only 12 months after the Aldridge comments, Ibe would have actually left the club to join Bournemouth in order to get some first-team minutes on a regular basis. It didn't come as a massive shock to see Liverpool cash in on a bit-part player when the Cherries offered more than £15 million for his services.

The struggles the Englishman had in front of goal at Anfield carried over to his time at Bournemouth as Ibe played 92 times for the Cherries but only managed to find the net five times despite being given a further forward role than he had at Liverpool. It became apparent during his game time began to dwindle over the course of his stay at the Vitality Stadium, to the point where Ibe featured only twice in his final season at the club in 2019/20 - the season his former employers wrapped up their first Premier League title in 30 years.

Things continued to spiral for the former England Under-21 international after he signed for Derby County in the summer of 2020 upon the expiry of his Bournemouth contract after four years with the club. His return to his former loan club didn't kick-start Ibe's career once more as was hoped and he only went on to play once for the Rams.

In January 2021, Ibe took to Instagram to explain a long-standing battle he had been having with his mental health. The statement read: "I've found myself in a dark place due to suffering from depression, It's no scheme for the media or to have my name in your mouths, I just find things hard, truly."

Fans were reassured that everything would begin to look up for the ex-Liverpool winger as he signed off with the defiant message: "I appreciate all the love and messages from everyone. Times are hard in general due to this pandemic. I have full support from my family and Derby County. I will fix myself and this situation, which I'm 100 percent committed to. Not only for my family, close friends and daughter but for me."

Jordon Ibe returns to football

It was announced via the Ebbsfleet United X account that the now 27-year-old had signed a contract with the club to take part in the National League which is the fifth tier of English football. It may be quite a fall from grace in terms of standar of football he is playing, but everyone will be thrilled to see the former wonderkid appears to be happy and healthy more than two years after addressing his mental health struggles.

Ibe made his debut for his new club in an Emirates FA Cup clash against Slough Town only days after his signing was confirmed. Unfortunately, Ebbsfleet slipped to a 2-0 away loss, with Ibe unable to make a telling impact upon his return to action.

It is understandable that it may take a bit of time to get back into the swing of things as Ibe has been without a club since 2022 after leaving Adanaspor in Turkey following failing to make a single appearance for the Süper Lig outfit. He had previously also had time out of the game following his contract with Derby being terminated only six months after his tough times had been revealed.

It is safe to say all Liverpool fans will wish nothing but the best for a player they once held very high hopes for, as long as Ibe plays football with a smile on his face, that's all that counts.