Liverpool to offer Divock Origi, hero of Barcelona comeback, a new contract after impressing Jurgen Klopp
The Belgian has impressed senior figures at Anfield with his work ethic and improvement over the season
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Your support makes all the difference.Liverpool are set to reward Divock Origi, the hero of their sensational comeback win over Barcelona, with a new contract after the Belgian proved his worth to boss Jurgen Klopp.
Origi arrived on Merseyside in 2014 as an in-demand prospect after impressing with Belgium at the World Cup in Brazil.
The £10m prospect returned to former club Lille on loan but never became the goalscorer that the Reds had hoped and after a couple of seasons back at Anfield he went out on loan to Bundesliga side Wolfsburg.
With his contract ticking down and first-team chances still hard to come by, Origi nearly left the club in January amid interest from Wolverhampton Wanderers, Everton, Crystal Palace and abroad.
But Klopp has been impressed by the 24-year-old work ethic and continual improvement, recently leapfrogging Daniel Sturridge and Xherdan Shaqiri in the pecking order. Stepping in for a Champions League semi-final where the Reds were without Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino through injury, Origi scored twice and kept Barca's defence occupied all night to cement Klopp's opinion of him.
Now the Belgian international will be rewarded with a contract extension that will add to the 12 months remaining on his existing deal.
It is an incredible turnaround for the striker whose father, Mike, is a former Kenyan international himself.
At the start of the season, Origi Sr. had warned his son that he was playing for his future this season - a season that has worked out well for Liverpool's Champions League hero.
"Divock is still a Liverpool player, and is still on contract until the end of the 2019-2020 season," he said back in September.
"The coach (Klopp) is already happy with what he's seeing with Divock in training and it's up to the young man to now fight for a place in the team.
"Dortmund and Valencia showed good interest but they couldn't match what Liverpool wanted and there was no way Divock was going out on loan again so he will have to fight for his place.
"He has seen the difference between Liverpool and other clubs and will obviously know that he has to fight hard to remain in Liverpool which is a bigger club."
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