'He's a wonderful footballer': Manager confirms 'fantastic player' has returned to Liverpool but says 'it’s hurting him'

Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers and Leighton Clarkson mutually reached the decision to end his loan spell and he has now returned to Merseyside where talks will take place over his next steps.

The 20-year-old has returned to Merseyside after struggling to break into Tony Mowbray's team in the same way that Harvey Elliott did last season.

The Athletic reports: "The decision to cut short his Championship adventure was one Clarkson and the club arrived at together."

Rovers are pushing for a return to the Premier League and, unfortunately, Clarkson isn't able to break into their side right now and Mowbray has been very transparent in why the young starlet wasn't able to break into the side.

The 58-year-old said: “Over the last couple of months, when the team have really hit the ground running, it’s been very difficult for him to get in.

“He’s a wonderful footballer with a wonderful weight of pass and amazing vision. He hits all sorts of passes and looks a fantastic player in training.

“A boy with the amount of talent that he has, he has to be playing football. It’s almost criminal that he sits on a bench rather than playing on a Saturday or a Tuesday.

“I hope he can find a club where he can play a lot and show what a good player he is.”

It will still have been a good learning curve for Clarkson and although he only made 7 appearances, that's more than he would have been afforded at Liverpool this season.

Liverpool will now assess his immediate next steps as they figure out the best way to fast-track his development as he is almost 21 and he needs to be playing senior football at this stage of his fledgling career.

It's not always fair to compare but Curtis Jones is only several months older than Clarkson and has been a decent player for Liverpool and so Jurgen Klopp and Pep Lijnders will be hoping to see more from the 20-year-old.

Mowbray added: “He knows football, it’s hurting him because he’s a Rovers fan and I haven’t been able to give him the game-time and he understands that because the team is winning and functioning."