Liverpool named a 23-man senior squad for the Premier League season on Wednesday, with striker Paul Glatzel included despite a rough four years.
Glatzel was set to make his breakthrough under Jurgen Klopp in 2019, when an ACL suffered in his first outing of pre-season derailed his progress.
Since then, a series of injuries have hampered the striker’s momentum, including two major hamstring problems in successive loans with Tranmere.
Liverpool handed Glatzel a new contract earlier in the summer as he builds up his fitness, with a first competitive outing back with the U21s coming against Middlesbrough on September 3.
His inclusion in the club’s squad for the Premier League campaign may have caused surprise among supporters, with the other 22 players named regularly involved.
But Glatzel was required to be registered as a senior player having turned 22 in February, meaning he is no longer eligible as U21.
Therefore while the likes of Ryan Gravenberch, Harvey Elliott, Stefan Bajcetic, Ben Doak, Conor Bradley and Jarell Quansah were left off the list, Glatzel had to be included.
If he had not been, the Liverpool-born forward would not have been registered to play any football for the club in the first half of the season.
Glatzel qualifies as a homegrown player, meaning he would not take up a valuable non-homegrown slot in Jurgen Klopp‘s squad.
Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Vitezslav Jaros, Curtis Jones and Caoimhin Kelleher are also homegrown players.
Liverpool do still have room for one more non-homegrown player, having registered 16 so far, meaning another addition is possible in January.
However it is unlikely that Glatzel will be involved at first-team level despite his inclusion, and more realistic is an extended stay with the U21s.
This campaign will be viewed as an opportunity to regain his fitness and sharpness after a miserable run of injuries, and regular appearances at youth level can allow him to do so.
Glatzel is the likely to be reassessed in January, ahead of a possible loan move, though he could also be called into senior training when required.
Klopp may be more inclined to utilise the likes of Bobby Clark, Melkamu Frauendorf and Lewis Koumas in domestic cup games if he shuffles his pack.
