Confirmed By Rodgers – Liverpool Has Signed Suarez Replacement

Liverpool manager, Brendan Rogers has given an idea of what to expect when summer signing, Divock Origi eventually begins to play for Liverpool. Origi was signed from Lille but was sent on a season-long loan back to the Ligue 1 club. The 19-year-old Belgian’s career has grown in leaps and bounds in the last one year, heightened by his inclusion in the Belgium national squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup campaign in June/July. Marc Wilmots, the Belgium manager to the World Cup seemed to have chosen Origi ahead of Everton striker, Romelo Lukaku.

Brendan Rogers however, speaking about Divock Origi, said: ‘‘There are very few players who can replace Suarez. Actually there are no players who can replace Suarez. When you look at the availability of other players during the summer, it was something that was difficult for us. It’s no good now, I know, but we took a player in Divock Origi who we believe will be world class and we’ll get him in the summer. Now he is a top player. He has everything: the speed, the profile and so on and he could play for Liverpool now. Our deal was that we couldn’t bring him in now. That was unfortunate because he can run in behind (the defence), he can keep the ball, he can press and he can run but that (Origi staying with Lille) was part of the deal.’’

Divock Origi, according to Brendan Rogers, may not immediately fill the shoes left by Luis Suarez but has the potential of becoming a Liverpool top scorer in seasons to come as his qualities have made such speculations easy. Liverpool were very impressive last season almost clinching the English Premier League title coming second on the log behind Manchester City, the eventual Champions. A major factor responsible for the successful run last term is the Sturridge and Suarez (SAS) connection in their forward line but this season, the absence of Suarez through a departure to Barcelona and Daniel Sturridge through injury has had an effect on the potency of the Liverpool attack this summer. The signing of Mario Balotelli from AC Milan and Rickie Lambert from Southampton hasn’t really alleviated the goal scoring problem and now the manager, Brendan Rogers would look to bring in Divock Origi next summer after his loan spell with Lille and hopefully pair him up with Sturridge for a semblance of the Suarez era.

Meanwhile, Origi recently expressed his delight and revealed that he is in constant contact with Liverpool and Brendan Rogers by saying: ‘‘Sometimes Brendan sends me some messages and sometimes people from Liverpool come and visit me in Lille. It’s good to know they are following my progress. Things are going well but there’s still some room for improvement. I’m still working hard trying to prepare myself for higher level. I’m feeling good and ready to continue this form. It’s a new era at Liverpool and everything will go well. They have a fantastic team. It’s only positive and I don’t think we have to worry about Liverpool.’’

Many Liverpool supporters would relish the prospect of having Divock Origi as a Luis Suarez replacement on the long term and restore glory days for the Merseyside team.