Liverpool assistant coach Peter Krawietz has explained that the club decided to loan out ex-Golden Eaglets trainee Ovie Ejaria and a couple of youngsters to improve their development.

The England U20 World Cup-winning midfielder had not figured for The Reds first team this season before he was farmed out on loan to Sunderland until June 2018.

If not for injury he picked up in training last week, Ejaria had been in contention to start his third straight game since his arrival at The Blacks.

Speaking to the official website of Liverpool, Krawietz said : ''We really like the boys, each single one, and we want to give them the opportunity to become the best football players that they can be and to use all their potential.

''That potential is massive otherwise they wouldn’t have a contract with Liverpool FC.''

He added : ''We will get the players back in the summer and then we can have a look again at what their roles are because we have a lot of highly interesting and highly talented young players, such as Marko, Harry, Ovie and Ryan.''

Ejaria, 20, joined Liverpool from Arsenal in 2014 after starring at the ABN AMRO Future Cup, and has played eight games for the first-team of the Anfield side in all competitions since his debut.

Igho Kingsley

Photo Credit : liverpoolfc.com