Liverpool: Which loanees have a future at Anfield?

Loris Karius

Liverpool FC v West Ham United - Premier League

Loris Karius will never play for Liverpool ever again, for obvious reasons. Signed in the summer of 2016, the German shot-stopper was just coming off a great season with Mainz where he was voted the Bundesliga's second best goalkeeper after Manuel Neuer. So when Klopp signed the keeper from his former club, fans rejoiced as they were finally going to see the end of Simon Mignolet’s erratic reign between the sticks.

But a broken hand in pre-season set the tone for the rest of his Liverpool career. Having had to wait until late September to make his debut, he slowly became the club's number one choice in goal. But two mistakes in December came with vigorous media scrutiny causing Klopp to take Karius out of the spotlight as the manager reinstated Mignolet between the sticks. The Belgian would remain number one for a year before Karius finally got another chance at the start of 2018.

As the new number one, Karius did show signs of improvements and was becoming a good goalkeeper. He made wonderful saves on numerous occasions as Liverpool finally looked to have a keeper, who would save them points rather than cost them.

As the season was drawing to a close, it looked like Karius had finally won his place and would be Liverpool’s goalkeeper for the next season. But that all changed in Kiev. Starting in what was and will most likely be the biggest match of his career, two Karius howlers gifted Real Madrid 2 goals and the Champions League trophy.

Although efforts were made by Klopp to reignite the Germans career there was no coming back from that nightmare. All the focus during pre-season was on Karius as he continued to make mistakes. He was a broken man.

With Liverpool splashing the cash to sign Alisson last summer, the club finally have a good goalkeeper. Karius, who is unlikely to play for Liverpool ever again, is currently at Besiktas on a 2-year loan deal. Karius is still a decent keeper, but he will never be a great one and that night in Kiev proved it.