Liverpool winger, Jordon Ibe, hopes to seize the opportunity that the acrimonious transfer of Raheem Sterling appears to have offered him.
The 19-year-old has impressed on the club’s pre-season tour, which has now moved on to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and is likely to get more first-team chances after Sterling’s £49 million departure to Manchester City.
Ibe was recalled from a loan spell at Derby midway through last season, making an impact in most of the 14 appearances he made for Brendan Rodgers during the remainder of the campaign.
With Sterling now gone after a distasteful saga, there is a spot to be filled and the former Wycombe player, who coincidentally shares the same birthday as Sterling but was born 12 months later, has his eyes on it.
“Football is about chances,” he told LFCTour.com.
“Raheem is a great player but hopefully now I will get a chance to play and prove to the manager that I can play in the Premier League.”
Ibe isn’t the only young player hoping to catch the eye, and new signing Danny Ings got off the mark with a composed finish during the Reds’ 2-0 win over Adelaide United.
“It was great to see Danny get his first goal,” Ibe added.
“I’ve been chatting with him and he’s been wanting to score. He’s a great player and I’m happy for him.
“He makes runs in behind, he’s very quick and you saw how well he played in the Premier League last season.
“With all of the new players coming in hopefully they can add a different style and bring goals to the team.”
—