England star confirms Liverpool mistake after failed transfer

Arne Slot is charged with over seeing a lot in his role as Liverpool's head coach, and while most of his time revolves around setting up the team, there are a lot of personal relations involved as well.

For example, the Dutchman doesn't just have to create a team that has the right balance to go out there and succeed every week, he also has to figure out the underlying tactical approach, alongside making sure that players' morale is high, keeping all the egos in check. Everyone has to be involved.

Last season, this was relatively straightforward, because the team was winning and players knew what their roles were. The vibes were constantly high and the squad came across as a team, working towards a collective goal - winning the Premier League. It's not easy to maintain that dynamic.

This season, however, things are more complicated, because record-breaking transfers have come through the door, and each of the new signings will expect to play as much as possible. Achieving that, while trying to work in the same relaxed conditions as the campaign before, is a lot harder.

Along the way, it's possible for players to feel left out and overlooked. If the club felt it was the right thing to do at the time, then there's no problem. But occasionally, you'll let a player get away, which nightly quickly prove to be a mistake. It appears as though we're now in that trap with Tyler Morton.

Morton speaks out on disappointing Liverpool treatment

After spending most of last season with the Reds' under-21 side last season, the Englishman felt the time was right to spread his wings elsewhere and leave. He joined French club Lyon in a £15m deal.

He'd spent three seasons at Liverpool, having joined in 2021 from Blackburn Rovers, and while his talent and potential was clear for all to see, it was a matter of sending him out on loan moves before making a decision as to whether he had what it takes to join the first team.

He impressed during his time at Blackburn, and later Hull City, leading many to think that a positive pre-season showing was all he needed to be given an opportunity at the senior level at Liverpool. At times, he was given some rope to see how he could cope, but his game time was incredibly limited.

Across the four years, he played 178 minutes in the FA Cup, 342 minutes in the League Cup, 70 minutes in the Premier League and 218 minutes in the Champions League. He was hugely underused.

Getting the chance to leave in the summer was the golden opportunity he'd been looking for and so far this season, it's clear that regular game time was all he needed to flourish. In just nine games at Lyon, he's recorded 688 minutes, which is creeping up to the senior minutes he got for the Reds.

In an interview with SportBible, the 22-year-old opened up about what his experience was like over the last two years at Liverpool and how things could have been different if he was given a chance.

He said: "They (Leverkusen) came in quite late that summer [2024], but I spoke to the manager (Slot) about it and Liverpool wanted me to stay. I spoke to my agent, and we were pushing a move, but it was difficult.

"Liverpool told me I couldn't leave at the time, which was fair enough, but if you want to go and play, then you've got to push it. I asked the manager. He was open with me and said he was going to keep me around. Nothing was going to change his mind.

"He needed me around the team as a back-up. Some players have to take that role, and that's the role he decided for me. I'll be honest, it wasn't ideal. I wanted to be starting games. If that was at Liverpool - the club I love - then incredibly. But it wasn't going to be."

Given how dedicated Morton was to the club in wanting to succeed, it's quite sad to know that despite his best efforts, his dream didn't come true. The Reds have a wealth of midfield talents in their squad, but Morton could've been given more responsibility to be a difference-maker for us.

This season, Arne Slot has spoken out about his need to be more flexible with his lineups, rotating more often in order to not burnout the squad like last season. In doing so, some players that feature more regularly on the sidelines could be given a chance to play more often. Trust and faith has been placed in Rio Ngumoha throughout this campaign so far, Morton just didn't get the same chance.

Convincing a player to remain at the club and then barely utilising them is a problem, negated only really by the fact that Morton has now been handed his wish to start regularly, albeit at another club.

But in spite of the 20% sell-on clause in his departure agreement, there is no buy-back clause, which feels like a missed opportunity. Of course, all clubs make mistakes and as mentioned earlier, Slot has a lot to manage in his role as head coach. But it's clear that Morton could have been better managed.

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