Billy Koumetio’s loan to Austria Vienna is due to be terminated by Liverpool this month — after he became a regular player in the reserve team of the Vienna club, and not the main team.
In the summer, the 20-year-old moved to Austria in search of valuable senior experience, becoming a permanent coach of Jurgen Klopp.
The move to rent did not come true, as Liverpool or Koumetio had assumed: there were only 11 matches for the first team, which is 712 minutes – his last appearance on the field was at the beginning of November.
Of those 11 games, seven were in the starting lineup. Now, having recently received more playing time with Vienna’s reserve team in the second division, Liverpool have stepped in.
At the presentation of the new Vienna manager Michael Wimmer, their sporting director Manuel Ortlehner confirmed on Tuesday that the Reds had announced their intention to complete the lease in January.
“We are in close contact and I will call Liverpool later because they would like to bring Kumetio back,” Orlehner said via Sky Sports Austria.
“We still think he’s an incredibly interesting player. He can have a very interesting career. But Liverpool want him back now, they have the right to do that.
“In the end, we still have to clarify everything, but in 99% of cases Billy Kumetio will no longer play for Austria Wien.
The club will not seek to ensure that Koumetio continues to follow the path of the Vienna reserve team when they can observe his development with the under-23 team or with another loan move.
Back in December, Koumetio talked about how influential Jurgen Klopp was in his decision to make a temporary move this season.
“The master told me that it would be the perfect and best choice,” Koumetio said. “He actually told me he would prefer that.
“Of course I had a choice, but in the end Liverpool can say yes or no, but the boss said it would be perfect for me, so I accepted his big, big, big opinion, his big voice and his big vision.”
