A Progress Report on Norwich City's Liverpool Loanee Andre Wisdom

Of all the things Brendan Rodgers did during the summer, his loan of Andre Wisdom to Norwich City was one of the more baffling.

The 22-year-old defender signed a new long-term contract at Liverpool in May, shortly after his season-long loan to West Bromwich Albion came to an end.

A few weeks later, Rodgers terminated the loan of Spanish right-back Javier Manquillo a season early, the same week that he signed Nathaniel Clyne from Southampton.

The obvious assumption at this point was that Wisdom was to become the back-up to Clyne—a logical move that would have ensured the 24-year-old wasn't overly relied upon, and Wisdom was given plenty of involvement in UEFA Europa League and domestic cup competitions.

Three weeks later, though, Wisdom was loaned to Premier League new boys Norwich City, with Liverpool reportedly receiving a £1.25 million loan fee, per the Press Association (h/t This Is Anfield).

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At this point, it was anticipated that Wisdom would perhaps finally be offered a chance to play as a centre-back—a position Liverpool couldn't offer him the opportunity to play in. This is where he played throughout his youth career before being drafted in as a right-back in Rodgers' first season at Anfield in 2012/13.

That year, the Yorkshire-born player made 19 appearances, scoring once against Young Boys in the Europa League.

Alas, three months into the new season, and Wisdom hasn't been played as a centre-back at Norwich. In fact, he's barely been playing at all.

Norwich

Wisdom was on the bench as Norwich opened the season with a 3-1 loss at home to Crystal Palace, Scottish international Steven Whittaker instead getting the nod at right-back from Canaries boss Alex Neil. That has been pretty much the case since.

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Wisdom made his first start in the League Cup second round in late August, claiming an assist in a 2-1 win over Rotherham. He's since played the full game in the third-round victory over West Brom and was substituted off the field in the final minute of the cup defeat at Everton.

In the league, however, chances have been few and far between. The England under-21 international has started as many Premier League games as he has under-21 games for Norwich (one).

That single start was at home to Bournemouth, but it came a week before Norwich's game away to Liverpool—a match Wisdom was therefore ineligible for.

It was bad timing for the former Bradford City youth player, who has since failed to regain his place from Whittaker.

Wisdom is currently sidelined with a knee injury, ruling him out to November 21, per Physioroom.com.

In total, he's made two league appearances for Norwich—one start, one as a sub—and three League Cup appearances.

Once he returns from injury, the only way he is likely to get an opportunity is a loss of form or injury to Whittaker. If that arrives, he must impress Neil in order to retain his place in the side and therefore get some regular playing time in the Premier League again.

"

course Ryan Bennett at centre back & Andre Wisdom at right back still won't get a chance.Only 2 undroppable players are those at fault #ncfc

— Matt Johnson (@mattjohnson333) October 18, 2015"

Neil, it seems, sees Whittaker as his first-choice right-back, making Liverpool's loan of Wisdom to the Canaries all the more baffling—why send him to a club that are only prepared to use him as back-up?

Liverpool

Meanwhile, back at his parent club, Liverpool have no cover for Clyne, who has started 14 of the Reds' 15 games in all competitions this season.

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The England right-back covered for Alberto Moreno at left-back against Bournemouth in the League Cup last week and has only missed the Europa League away trip to Bordeaux.

Ahead of Thursday's Europa League clash in Russia with Rubin Kazan, there's absolutely no cover for Clyne due to Connor Randall not being part of the squad.

Such a lack of cover for new manager Jurgen Klopp is in part due to Joe Gomez's injury, but it's clear that Wisdom would have been an adequate replacement for Clyne in these games.

Future

"Whatever happens I still see my future as being at Liverpool," said Wisdom when signing for Norwich, per Peter Layton of the Daily Star. "But you have to prove yourself at this level and hopefully I can do that here."

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He's not getting the opportunity to prove himself under Neil, so it's difficult to see how he can return to Liverpool and remain at the club.

Of course, Liverpool's awarding of a new contract for him last summer was no doubt largely in order to protect his value, and receiving a sizeable loan fee from Norwich makes for good business.

But with his chances so limited at the Premier League strugglers, perhaps he'd be better off playing back-up to Clyne and working alongside Klopp. An early termination is not possible, though, due to the loan fee involved—unless both clubs worked out a mutual compensation, which seems unlikely.

The likelihood is that Wisdom will move on from Anfield next summer, when he'll be 23. A move to a Championship side—where he impressed with Derby County previously—would seem most likely.