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Liverpool agree exit of young star after Jurgen Klopp’s transfer warning
Liverpool have agreed a deal to sell talented teenager Elijah Gift to La Liga outfit Athletico Bilbao, with the 16-year-old now poised to return to his native Spain
Liverpool youngster Elijah Gift is poised to leave the club after the Reds agreed a deal with Athletic Bilbao for the talented winger.
Gift, 16, has been a regular in Liverpool’s Under-18 team this term. He moved to Anfield at U12 level from Huddersfield Town after catching the eye in the Terriers youth set-up.
While Gift is highly-rated at Liverpool and the club were not actively looking to part with the teenager, a substantial offer from Bilbao has forced a rethink. Given that the Reds are particularly blessed in attacking talent in their youth squad, Gift is now set to link up with the LaLiga outfit in a deal worth around £1million.
That’s according to The Athletic, who have outlined details of the deal. Gift is expected to return to his native Spain to Bilbao, who have a policy where only Basque native players are eligible to play for them. Gift was born in Corella, a town in the Basque country.
Gift will join a quartet of senior stars who are also leaving the club this summer: Roberto Firmino, James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all bid farewell to the Anfield faithful during Liverpool’s last home game of the season last weekend.
Reports outlining Gift’s potential exit come less than 24 hours after Jurgen Klopp stressed that he would personally offload any player who made it clear they didn’t want to be at the club following an ominous tweet from Mohamed Salah.
A tweet from the Egyptian superstar reacting to Liverpool missing out on Champions League qualification in midweek sparked fears that the Reds talisman could be angling for a summer exit. Klopp was quick to quash such talk – but did make it clear he wouldn’t tolerate keeping hold of any player who was unhappy with where the club currently are.
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Speaking in his pre-match press conference on Friday, Klopp said: “If ever a player would come to me, and said: ‘oh we didn’t qualify for the Champions League, I have to leave, I would drive him to the other club myself.
“I would take the key, (and say) ‘come in the car, where do you want to go, I drive you’.”
He then made it clear that he had no problem with what Salah had said in his tweet, adding: “I have no worries, no. I couldn’t read anything that could lead in that direction. Obviously Mo loves being here and Mo was part of, he said, apologies for what ‘we’ did.
“He didn’t say: ‘apologies for what the other guys did, but I had to go with them’…not at all. It is all fine.”
