If you’re going to make a statement to your club, it’s not the worst idea in the world to make that statement during pre-season. You’ve got to ensure that you give yourself the best chance to get some minutes during the regular seasosn, especially if you aren’t a standard member of the first team. When you play for a team like Liverpool it feels especially important to try and do what you can to remain fresh in the mind of the manager, because let’s face it, they’re the Champions of Europe for a reason.

Yesterday the Reds went one on one with French side Lyon, in what wound up being a really entertaining pre-season friendly. An early Memphis Depay penalty put the Ligue 1 representatives into the lead, with a goal that a lot of Manchester United fans would’ve been happy to see. Roberto Firmino wound up equalising, and just a few minutes later, a Joachim Andersen own goal handed the Reds the advantage – which they never surrendered.

The next step

Then early in the second half, Harry Wilson received the ball outside of the box, took a touch, and unleashed a wonderful effort that sailed into the top left hand corner of the net. It was the latest in a string of high quality goals for the 22 year old, who has well and truly put himself on the map when it comes to the upcoming domestic season.

The Welshman has been at Anfield since he was with the under-9s many years ago, which kind of tells you all that you need to know regarding what he’s been through with the club over the years. He’s had loan spells with Crewe, Hull and Derby, with the Rams being the team that were really able to get the best out of the youngster.

Making an impact

Unfortunately for Liverpool fans that want to see Harry be given a chance to shine, it was reported just a few short days ago that Newcastle United (amongst other teams) could be interested in signing him. While the Magpies have gone a little bit quiet in their hunt for the forward, it didn’t stop Klopp from seemingly indicating that he would be open to selling Wilson on a permanent deal – stating that he wants him to feel settled somewhere as opposed to just heading out on loan.

While we don’t think one goal is all it’s going to take for the boss to change his mind about Wilson’s future at the club, it certainly isn’t going to harm his chances of breaking into the first team. He’d probably only make a handful of cup appearances, but if he can really start to gain some momentum in those games, who knows, he may be awarded an opportunity or two that we previously thought wasn’t going to happen.

One way or another it feels like the next week or so is going to be vital for the development of Wilson, who has the potential to do some big things.