Liverpool Loan Watch: May and June 2020

Welcome to the eighth part of my series of monthly articles; tracking the progress of Liverpool’s loanees for the 2019/20 season. This is an ongoing series which will hopefully help keep fans up to date on how our players are getting on at their temporary homes. This month’s edition is the first since March, due to football being shut down everywhere other than Belarus for a period of time. However, with the sport back up and running in many countries across Europe, a joint loan watch for May and June has plenty of content.

If you didn’t catch my most recent piece, in March, you can find it here: http://fanscorners.com/liverpool-loan-watch-march-2020/

Let’s see how they got on in May and June…

Marko Grujic – Hertha Berlin

By the time the Bundesliga season restarted, Hertha were under new management. Bruno Labbadia is the man in charge now and immediately restored Grujic to the team. He had a good game as Hertha thumped Hoffenheim 3-0 away from home, with the trio of goals coming in quick succession. The next game was the Berlin derby, in which Grujic again started and had an impressive game as his side were comfortable 4-0 winners over Union. It was the away fixture against title challengers RB Leipzig that Grujic really impressed though, scoring a flick from a corner and dominating the middle of the park as Hertha held Julian Nagelsmann’s team to a 2-2 draw. Grujic was a starter in the next two fixtures, a win over Augsburg and a loss to Borussia Dortmund, in which former Liverpool man Emre Can scored the winner. Hertha shifted to a different system in their next match, which did not go according to plan as they were thrashed 4-1 by Eintracht Frankfurt, with the loanee playing as part of a three-man midfield. They were beaten again as Freiburg overcame them 2-1, Grujic not lasting the full 90, although happier days were ahead with a 2-0 win over European-chasers Bayer Leverkusen, the Liverpool man impressing in the centre of the park. His final appearance of the season came in Hertha’s home fixture against Monchengladbach, where he only lasted 45 minutes as they were beaten 2-1, consigning them to a respectable 10^th-place finish. After completing two full seasons in the German capital, making 54 appearances for the club, what next for Grujic?

Rhian Brewster – Swansea City

Brewster’s first game back for Swansea was a superb 3-0 win away at struggling Middlesbrough, in which he bagged two first-half goals. First, he tapped in a cross from Andre Ayew after starting a move from deep before unleashing a burst of pace to get on the end of Ayew’s ball. Moments later he struck a half-volley to double the Swans’ lead over Jonathan Woodgate’s team, showing his ‘fox in the box’ nature. His link-up play and work-rate throughout was very impressive and he earned man of the match as Swansea moved closer to a playoff spot. He wasn’t able to repeat this performance a week later though, as his side were beaten 1-0 at home by basement men Luton Town in a terrible result for Steve Cooper’s team. Brewster was starved of service and headed over with the once chance he did have. He was in the thick of things once again as Swansea drew 1-1 at Millwall, the striker hitting a free-kick off the bar which ended up going in off the Lions’ keeper Bartosz Bialkowski to round off an excellent start to the resumption for Brewster.

Nathaniel Phillips – Vfb Stuttgart

Phillips is chasing promotion with Stuttgart and started their first game back, a loss at Wehen Wiesbaden, before being dropped for the following four fixtures. It wasn’t until a loss at Karlsruher that he was back on the pitch, from the bench. Phillips was back in from the start for a 5-1 thumping of Sandhausen but a yellow card meant that he was suspended for the following 6-0 trouncing of Nurnberg. Stuttgart’s final game of the season was a loss to Darmstadt but this didn’t stop the party as they secured promotion to the Bundesliga. It awaits to be seen whether Phillips is taken on loan by Stuttgart again as they move into the big time next season.

Ovie Ejaria – Reading

The Royals began post-lockdown life with a 1-1 draw at home to Stoke, in which they conceded a late equaliser. Ejaria struggled to find any space to operate in and also was guilty of overplaying on a few occasions. It was noticeable how he was forced to drop deep to receive the ball a lot in this match. He was much more involved in their next fixture, a disappointing 2-1 defeat at Pride Park to Phillip Cocu’s impressive Derby County team. He came close to opening the scoring in the first half before having a header saved in the second. Ejaria put in one of his worst performances of the season as Reading fell to a 3-0 loss at home to the brilliant Brentford, struggling to make any impact on the game at all.

Sheyi Ojo – Rangers

With the Scottish Premiership having been ended prematurely, Sheyi Ojo’s time at Rangers is now over. He has been largely disappointing for the Glasgow giants after a bright start, but at least contributed a few goals, including the Europa League screamer against Feyenoord. It is hard to see him being involved at Liverpool next season but with plenty of time still on his contract, another loan is likely.

Herbie Kane – Hull City

One beneficiary of football’s shutdown was Herbie Kane, who was set to miss the rest of the season through injury but was offered a reprieve via the sport’s hiatus. He returned to start their first game back, a terrible 1-0 loss at home to Charlton, in which Kane had a tough day in midfield, struggling to get to grips with his role. Nevertheless, he kept his spot for the following fixture away at Birmingham City. Kane was much better this time and dominated the midfield area, as well as slotting home a clever free-kick in the second half under the wall to give his team the lead with his first Hull City goal, though they couldn’t hold on and drew 3-3 after a late Gary Gardner equaliser for the Blues.

Isaac Christie-Davies – Cercle Brugge

The Belgian Pro League was one of a few across the continent to cut short their season rather than restart it, meaning that Christie-Davies never made an appearance for Cercle Brugge. It was also announced that the midfielder would be leaving Liverpool at the end of the season and becoming a free agent.

Ben Woodburn – Oxford United

Even though League One’s regular season was curtailed and decided via a points-per-game metric, Oxford’s excellent season was rewarded with a 4^th-placed finish, meaning they are in the playoffs, where they will play Portsmouth over two legs for a chance to get to the playoff final. Woodburn played, and scored, in a friendly against Reading this month, getting his fitness and preparation up ahead of the semi-finals in early July.

Harry Wilson – Bournemouth

The Premier League restart did not begin well for Wilson or Bournemouth. The Welsh wizard started their first game back, a 2-0 home loss to Crystal Palace, in which he was subbed at half-time, before a 1-0 defeat at Wolves. Wilson was a sub himself at Molineux, coming on in the second half and struggling to affect things.

Kamil Grabara – Huddersfield Town

Having re-signed Jonas Lossl for the run-in, manager Danny Cowley confirmed that Kamil Grabara’s loan deal finishes on June 30^th, meaning he will return to Liverpool after 28 appearances at Huddersfield, who now need to concentrate on maintaining their Championship status. For Grabara, decisions will be made about his future: is another loan deal likely or could he be Liverpool’s second-choice next season?

Loris Karius – Besiktas

Though the Turkish Super Lig has restarted, there will be no more Besiktas appearances for Karius, who terminated his loan with the club over a dispute around wages. So, what next for Karius? Could he be Liverpool’s number two or does his future lie elsewhere?

Anderson Arroyo – Mlada Boleslav

Left-back Arroyo made his Mlada debut in a 1-0 defeat to Slavia Prague, one of two substitute appearances the Colombian left-back made in May and June.

Daniel Atherton – Marine FC

Non-league football was heavily affected by the shutdown and there was no restart for Marine, meaning Atherton’s loan ended with seven appearances. He, along with fellow goalkeeper Shamal George, will be on the lookout for a new club after being released by Liverpool.

Taiwo Awoniyi – Mainz 05

Of all the loanees, Taiwo Awoniyi was the one whose season was looking least promising. He had made just one start all season and hadn’t played at all since December. Yet when the Bundesliga got going again, Awoniyi was back in the Mainz fold and made a telling impact for his team. He was given 34 minutes in the first game back, away at FC Koln, and scored a goal to get Mainz back in the game at 2-0 down, before they later levelled. He got another cameo in a thrashing by Julian Nagelsmann’s RB Leipzig, again looking bright. These promising showings were rewarded with three consecutive starts: 63 minutes against Union Berlin and the full 90 in matches with Hoffenheim and Eintracht Frankfurt. Interestingly, he was utilised on the wing in all of these games, whereas he had previously only been known as a striker. A fourth consecutive start came against Augsburg, but this was brought to an early close with a concussion-based injury which kept him out of the final two matches of the season, Mainz finishing the season in 13^th. After an impressive end to the campaign, what next for Awoniyi? One would hope that his work permit troubles may finally be over and he could get a shot at Liverpool, but another loan move seems more likely.

Rhys Williams – Kidderminster Harriers

Kidderminster’s season in the National League North came to an end with them finishing 16^th. Williams’ time there was largely impressive and there is a belief that he can make something of himself at Liverpool in the coming years and is likely to be loaned out to a higher level next season.

Thanks for reading my loan watch, I hope you enjoyed it. See you again for July’s report!

Daniel (@daykind19)

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Daniel Daykin

A non-biased voice of reason among fellow Liverpool fans. I'll always tell you the truth, no matter how hard you find it to accept. I miss Suarez. A lot.

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