James Pearce: Liverpool could greenlight defender’s exit today despite Anfield injury crisis

James Pearce has reported that Liverpool could greenlight a deadline-day loan exit for Calvin Ramsay if a ‘suitable offer’ comes their way.

The 22-year-old is currently the only natural senior right-back available to Arne Slot, with Conor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong both sidelined with injury, while the versatile Joe Gomez has also been nursing a minor problem and missed the weekend win over Newcastle.

Despite that, the Scotland international has played just once for the first team all season (in a much-changed line-up for the Carabao Cup defeat to Crystal Palace in October), with the head coach frequently preferring to redeploy a midfielder on the right-hand side of defence.

Pearce: Ramsay could leave Liverpool on deadline-day loan

In an update on The Athletic‘s transfer deadline day live blog on Monday morning, Pearce reported of the potential for a late-window departure from Anfield for Ramsay.

The reliable reporter indicated that the 22-year-old could leave Liverpool on loan today ‘if a suitable offer is forthcoming’, although no clubs were explicitly mentioned in terms of interested parties for the defender.

Would Ramsay leaving on loan be risky for Liverpool?

At surface level, it may seem surprising – risky, even – that the LFC hierarchy would be prepared to sanction a deadline-day exit for a player in a position where options are dangerously threadbare at present.

The Reds are closing in on a £60m deal for Rennes defender Jeremy Jacquet, but that transaction isn’t set to occur until the summer, and the Frenchman is primarily a centre-back rather than a full-back.

However, with Ramsay not seeing any recent game-time under Slot despite the injury crisis – and the head coach bizarrely undermining the 22-year-old in a press conference last month – it’s quite apparent where he stands in the pecking order at Liverpool.

If a club were to come in with a loan offer today and provide genuine reassurances over playing time for the Scot, it’s plausible that he could be allowed to leave Anfield for the remainder of this season before returning in the summer as he goes into the final year of his current contract.

From an LFC perspective, we’d prefer to have him in L4 and at least available to Slot, although we’d understand if he were keen to go elsewhere and play more regularly, should the right suitor come in and offer him the requisite game-time.

This could be one to watch as deadline day progresses.

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