Sporting director announces plans to sign Liverpool forward

Liverpool loaned out plenty of emerging talent last summer as the club sought precious first-team minutes for their finest prospects.

Some of those young players have taken to life out on loan with relish, including Ben Doak, who has become a Scotland star and a mainstay in the Middlesbrough lineup.

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The 19-year-old looks primed to return to Anfield next season and challenge for a first-team place, so long as he can maintain his stunning trajectory.

Another youngster impressing in the Championship is Owen Beck, the left-back who is playing well for Blackburn Rovers and recently made the breakthrough to Craig Bellamy’s senior Wales squad.

One more Welshman enjoying life on loan in the second tier is Lewis Koumas, a player who has earned full international honours.

Stoke want to extend Koumas terms

Koumas, 19, move to Stoke City on a season-long loan deal during the summer transfer window, playing 18 times overall and scoring three times thus far.

The Liverpool academy product has featured in numerous different positions for Narcis Pelach’s side, including on both wings and up front.

Earning well over 1,000 minutes of game time thus far, it’s been a productive loan spell for Koumas - and Liverpool - with Stoke now aiming to EXTEND his terms into another season.

Stoke’s sporting director Jonathan Walters was recently quizzed about his loan stars by the Stoke Sentinel and the possibility that they could be recalled in January.

However he was insistent that the likes of Koumas, Andrew Moran, Ashley Phillips and Tom Cannon were important pieces of the jigsaw for the Potters so long as they were fit for selection.

'Can we have them again?'

He said: “There’s a big thing made about loans and recall clauses in January but almost every single loan, 99 per cent, will have clauses like that because if your player’s not playing, you’ll want to call him back. If your player’s playing and has been called up for the international team, why would you want to call him back?

“They were sent with expectations, some of them to not have been involved as much as they have, and the likes of Lewis, I’m not sure how many first loans have played more minutes in the Championship this season and he’s really disappointed when he doesn’t play, which is what we want. It’s great!

“You come, you develop, we invite the loan managers down to come and watch and we’ll tell them what we’re doing and they go into what they want from us.

“You hope you’re doing well for them as a club and then next year, can we have them again?”

'Asset value has gone up'

Walters also revealed he is on good terms with Reds’ sporting director Richard Hughes - as well as Spurs counterpart Andy Scoulding, who is looking out for Phillips.

“They’re all really good guys and we’re building relationships,” he said. “And I hope other teams are looking and thinking, ‘I want to send a player to Stoke because I know what they produce, players are getting minutes, developing and their asset value has gone up.’

“We’ll help them, coach them, develop them, put in the messages that need putting into them. It’s not just me saying that, I see it happening. We’ll do that here.”

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