Jurgen Klopp has revealed that it was the right thing to do in letting England Youth international Dominic Solanke leave Liverpool to join Bournemouth.
21-year-old striker Solanke has long been heralded as one of the most promising young players of his generation and it was seen as a great piece of business when Liverpool signed him in the summer of 2017 after his contract had expired at boyhood club Chelsea.
However, the young forward failed to make the breakthrough many expected him to do at Anfield, scoring just one goal in 21 Premier League appearances for the Reds.
Speaking after news of Solanke’s £19 million move to Bournemouth became official, Klopp admitted he had to let Solanke move on for the benefit of his career.
“Football is a business obviously on one side and on the other side we have to care about people and their situation. I think for Dominic it was absolutely right to go,” Klopp told Liverpool’s official website.
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“For Dom, it was unlucky that when there was space for him, he had injuries. He trained pretty well, but you can’t stay confident over such a long period, especially not at that age.
“He needed to play football and Bournemouth made a good offer. For him, it’s a really good opportunity. We want to sign young players and we want to keep our young players, but we don’t want to block them in a moment where we see something else could be better for them.”