Liverpool have sent Billy Koumetio on loan to Austria Vienna for the 2022/23 season.
The 19-year-old, who joined the Reds' academy in 2018, has made two appearances for Jurgen Klopp's first team to date. He was handed his debut in the Champions League when coming on as a substitute against FC Midtjylland in December 2020, before being handed his first start against Leicester City in the League Cup quarter-finals last year.
The ECHO understands a number of clubs were interested in signing the defender on loan, but he opted for Austria Vienna, who had been tracking him for some time, having been impressed by head coach Manfred Schmid, the club's philosophy and its facilities. Meanwhile, club bosses felt a loan move was logical progression for the defender following a good season with the Reds' Under-23s, and view the switch as a great opportunity for the teenager to get competitive minutes in a competitive league, with the added benefit of playing in European competition as well.
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Koumetio first came to prominence during pre-season 2020 when featuring for the Liverpool first team and earning the praise of Klopp.
"Billy the kid. He doesn't look like a kid!" his manager said at the time. "In my opinion, his face looks like a kid but then all the rest is like, wow! I told him, 'Last time I saw you, you were like 20 centimetres less if I'm right.' That's pretty special. Yes, he's a big talent.
"Billy was unfortunately injured for quite a while, so he's now coming back. The perfect situation would be that he maybe really first be with the U23s and stuff like this. But a training camp is a nice opportunity for him, it's good for us to see him.
"I took him this morning [Sunday] in a session because we have to make sure we don't over-do [it] with him, it's very important. So he was not part of the last part of the session physically but I took him aside and explained what we do there.
"I think things like this help him a lot and I'm pretty sure he will make big steps. We just have to make sure that we really deal with his age group and physical demands well."
Koumetio was a member of the U18s team that reached the FA Youth Cup final in 2020/21, before establishing himself as a regular in Premier League 2 and the UEFA Youth League last season.
He will now join the Austrian outfit for the upcoming season, subject to international clearance, as he looks to build up further senior experience. As well as playing in the Austrian Bundesliga, his loan move could also give Koumetio the chance to play in the Europa League after Austria Vienna qualified for the play-off round after finishing third last season.
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