Bobby Clark to RB Salzburg? Examining Liverpool’s Potential Transfer Decision | OneFootball

Selling Bobby Clark Makes Sense to the New Regime

Despite a wonderful introduction to the Liverpool first team last season, this summer of twists on Merseyside appears to have created an outgoing that few could have envisioned at the end of the 2023/24 campaign. As the Martín Zubimendi saga rumbles on, the lingering news surrounding the future of the red’s young starlet, Bobby Clark, could see him join his former first-team coach, Pepijn Lijnders, at Austrian side, RB Salzburg. The former assistant to the now departed Jürgen Klopp has been installed as the Head Coach of the Austrian powerhouse, which sits within the RB group and is a fabulous footballing model. History points to the new Liverpool CEO, Michael Edwards, favouring players that rise to prominence from this multi-club model. This could point to why the former Newcastle academy graduate, Bobby Clark, could be headed that way in the coming days.

Why Sell Bobby Clark now?

If speculation is to be believed, then a £6m bid has already been rejected for the talented 19-year-old. Reports state that it may take around £12m to secure the signature of the attacking midfielder so that he could be reunited with the 41-year-old Pepijn Lijnders. The more you delve into justifying such a transaction, it could well be that the son of the former Newcastle United player, Lee Clark, merely rejects the idea of multiple loans (from Liverpool) and would rather find his feet with a permanent move away. Not every young prodigy is drawn to the loan system, therefore, if he were to stay at Anfield this season, the youngster that has made just six senior appearances for the reds, could become an outside option within the midfield pecking order. Below are the listed players for the double pivot and number 10 positions, which would represent the immediate competition for places.

Alexis Mac Allister

Martín Zubimendi (let us see)

Curtis Jones

Dominik Szoboszlai

Wataru Endō

Ryan Gravenberch

Stefan Bajčetić

Harvey Elliott

Cody Gakpo

There are, of course, arguments that point to those who could be leaving the club, though it would still be a hard task to envisage Geordie having a breakout season under his new Head Coach, Arne Slot. There are also circumstances that surround the relationship between the new Liverpool hierarchy and the productive RB group. I have no doubt that the new Sporting Director, Richard Hughes, as well as his CEO, Michael Edwards, will be drawn to creating a strong relationship with the RB group, one that has Leipzig sat at the top of that specific footballing pyramid. The likes of Ibrahima Konaté, Dominik Szoboszlai, and Takumi Minamino have all been purchased from either Leipzig or Salzburg in recent years, something which shows a consistent desire to recruit from that promising stable of talent.

As stated by Dave Hendrick in the attached caption, it would be possible (for Hughes) to insert a low buyback clause in the contractual conditions as a means of safeguarding the sale and permitting the transfer to proceed. The England under-20 International, Clarke, is contracted to the historical club until 2028, which gives his current employers all the power in the intriguing transfer saga. In essence, the implementation of various clauses and a reasonable buyback clause would allow immediate funds to be brought in, thereby enabling the key decision-makers at the Axa Training Centre time to assess the situation further down the line. The sudden emergence of Trey Nyoni (into the first-team picture) will also play a part in future plans, something that will again impact the opportunities for first-team action. The preseason will have enabled key observations to be carried out by the new boss, and if that means relinquishing Bobby Clark, then so be it.

Steven Smith