Jayden Danns will finish his loan at Sunderland without ever having played for the club, the Black Cats manager has confirmed. The injury picked up on his initial medical will rule him out for the remainder of the season.
With Sunderland set to feature in the playoffs, there had been distant hope of a late (and potentially dramatic) cameo for Danns. But Regis Le Bris has dashed even those dreams, ruling the Liverpool forward out of playing any part in the campaign.
It looked to be a bit of a risk when Arne Slot let Danns leave Anfield on a temporary deal in the January window, given the struggles of Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota. But it seems the young striker would not have been able to play a part for Liverpool anyway, with a back issue proving more troublesome than first feared.
Liverpool and Sunderland both became aware of the problem before the loan was finalized but opted to go ahead with the deal in the hope Danns would be able to recover in time to play a role. That shows how eager the Championship club was to land his services, but the race against time has been lost.
“He won’t play with us this season, it is definitive now,” confirmed Le Bris at a press conference. That draws a firm line under a bitterly disappointing second half of the campaign for Danns.
The 19-year-old has probably hardly even set foot in Sunderland, having been based out of Liverpool for his recuperation. What looked like a great opportunity to get exposure to senior football and test his level has come to absolutely nothing, no doubt realizing his worst fears when the injury was picked up.
But with the Sunderland move officially a write-off, Danns can at least turn his full focus to getting fit in time for pre-season. He will want to make the same kind of impression on Slot as he made on Jurgen Klopp, for whom he featured in the League Cup final against Chelsea last season.
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Perhaps he will even be able to convince Slot of the benefits of keeping him around, especially if there is churn in the forward department. Mohamed Salah just signed a new deal, but there are question marks over Nunez, Jota, and, indeed, Luis Diaz.
Alternatively, Liverpool could try again with another loan move. Given Sunderland’s determination to go ahead with the deal this season, perhaps it will come to the table again — either as a Championship or Premier League club, depending on how its season concludes in Danns’ absence.
There are likely to be other suitors too if Liverpool does look to organize a new loan. It has been a hugely frustrating period for Danns, but the teenager remains a really exciting talent, having looked at home whenever he has pulled on the Red jersey.
At the least, it seems likely he would improve the squad of just about any second-tier club, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to learn he could make a big impact in the Premier League, too. Whether he ends up proving his talent at Liverpool or elsewhere next season, it would take a brave person to bet against him coming back stronger.
