Kaide Gordon is unlikely to feature again during his loan spell at Portsmouth, having held “honest” talks with his head coach about the rest of the season.
Not included in any of Portsmouth’s last three games, Gordon is not expected to be involved in their remaining two fixtures after avoiding relegation to League One.
That comes with head coach John Mousinho prioritising the future, in which the Liverpool loanee clearly does not feature.
It means Gordon will have only played 296 minutes across loan spells with Norwich and Portsmouth this term, playing 14 times in the Championship but only starting once.
Liverpool will have hoped for considerably more for a player who has desperately needed game time after almost two seasons out injured, but Mousinho has made it clear during talks with Gordon that his focus is on Portsmouth.
“Kaide and Mark [O’Mahony, on loan from Brighton] have taken it really well,” he told reporters including The News‘ Neil Allen.
“I have tried to be honest with them about what I think they can do better with performances and why they have found themselves out of the squad.
“Some of it is about a bit of luck as well, with it also being crunch time at this time of the season.
“We’re just going to have to make decisions which we think are going to help the team.”
Upon swapping Norwich for Portsmouth at the start of February it already seemed unlikely that Gordon would be given a focal role in Mousinho’s side.
With Matt Ritchie and Josh Murphy staples on either wing and the 20-year-old severely lacking in match fitness, it should come as no surprise he has only played four times and not started at all.
Quite what it means for Gordon’s future at Liverpool is unclear, but there is little hope of breaking into Arne Slot‘s first-team squad at this rate.
The club may still see it as a formative campaign for the youngster, who has relocated twice, meeting new teammates and staff and experiencing different struggles at Norwich and Portsmouth alike.
But with game time of paramount importance this latest development is far from ideal for either Gordon or Liverpool.
