Liverpool-bound striker Divock Origi has been named in the Ligue 1 "worst team of the season" by French newspaper L'Equipe. Origi, 20, signed for Liverpool from Lille in a £10 million transfer following a promising 2014 World Cup campaign with Belgium, and was immediately loaned back to the Ligue 1 club. The futures of forwards Raheem Sterling, Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert look uncertain as Liverpool scored 52 goals while finishing sixth in the Premier League, but Origi -- who will return to Anfield this summer -- was selected by L'Equipe among the most unimpressive performers of the 2014-15 campaign. The young striker received an average rating of 4.46 out of 10 after scoring eight goals and creating three more in 33 Ligue 1 appearances, with Lille finishing eighth in the French top flight. Players featuring in L'Equipe's side must have played 21 games of the 38-game season. Liverpool had looked to cut the 20-year-old's loan deal short midway through the 2014-15 campaign due to Daniel Sturridge's injury problems, but decided against it due to a reported compensation fee Lille would have been due. Upon signing Origi last summer, Liverpool coach Brendan Rodgers said: "For me, he can be one of the most exciting talents in world football. I genuinely believe that. "You see a lot of good players, but this kid -- for 19 years of age -- he burst onto the scene at the World Cup, but we'd tracked him before that, we'd seen him as a young player playing in the youth internationals. He has everything to be world class. "He's super fast, has a wonderful touch, he's a good size and is aggressive. What I like, and what I have in other players, is that humility to work hard. "He can light up world football, for sure."
|