Liverpool left-back James Norris has departed the club on loan two weeks after the English transfer window closed, with the 21-year-old heading to Ireland.
The winter transfer window closed for English clubs on February 3, but there has remained an opportunity to conduct outgoing business with various leagues.
It gave Liverpool time to seek further chances for those youngsters who stayed on Merseyside beyond deadline day, including Norris.
And after Liverpool’s exit from the FA Cup at Plymouth – a game for which he was an unused substitute – the decision was made to send the left-back on loan.
He has joined Shelbourne FC, who are reigning champions of the League of Ireland Premier Division and managed by former Blackburn, Chelsea, Newcastle and Fulham winger Damien Duff.
The deal will run for the 2025 campaign in Ireland, which runs to November.
Norris joins days after a 3-1 win over Derry City to kick off Shelbourne’s title defence and will compete for a starting spot with Kameron Ledwidge.
Shelbourne’s triumph in the Irish top flight last season was their first in 18 years, with Duff widely heralded for his impact with the Dublin club since taking over in 2021.
Though a natural left-back Norris is also comfortable on the wing and in midfield, which should aid his chances of game time.
The academy graduate made the first-team squad on four occasions under Arne Slot this season and was a regular in senior training, but was never called upon to start or come off the bench.
Norris is not the first Liverpool player to head to Ireland on loan in recent years, with goalkeepers Vitezslav Jaros and Marcelo Pitaluga seeing very contrasting levels of success at St Patrick’s Athletic.
Jaros was named St Pat’s Player of the Year after a 2021 season that saw him lift the FAI Cup, but Pitaluga’s time at the club was brought to an early end after just seven appearances in the first half of the 2024 campaign.
Norris becomes the 15th Liverpool player currently out on loan, with the club also sanctioning new temporary moves for Stefan Bajcetic, Jayden Danns, Kaide Gordon, Calvin Ramsay, Fabian Mrozek and Dominic Corness over the winter.
It remains to be seen if any further deals will be conducted with sides whose transfer windows are still open, though there are options in the likes of Poland and Czechia.
Good luck, James!
