Malaga Terminate Luis Alberto’s Loan Early
After getting the season off to the best possible start, Liverpool striker Luis Alberto gradually fell down the pecking order during his two year loan stint at La Liga outfit Malaga with the Spanish side confirming that his services won’t be required for the upcoming campaign.
With his future at Anfield uncertain already, this is terrible news for the 22-year old who arrived on Merseyside the summer before with what looked to be a promising future in the Premier League ahead of him. Now, he looks almost certain to join a growing list of players heading for the Anfield exit with Fabio Borini, Mario Balotelli, and Rickie Lambert all expected to leave the Reds over the course of the summer.
Making only 9-appearances during his first season in England, Alberto found a bit more playing time and success in Spain, but only barely. A loan fee of £1mil saw him move to La Rosaleda Stadium, but after scoring a picture perfect free-kick in his first outing for the club, he rapidly fell behind the likes of Samu Castillejo and Southampton new boy Juanmi in the pecking order. With a mere 2-goals from a disappointing 15-appearances, the former Barcelona youth will be back at Melwood in the coming days, but just for how long is the real question.
After plodding to an underwhelming sixth place in the league last season, Reds boss Brendan Rodgers needs to deliver results right off the hop, and on the back of his performances in La Liga, the 22-year old has given no indication that he’s up to standard for what’s going to be an extremely difficult job.