Daniel Agger Denies Reports That He Wants to Leave Liverpool

Daniel Agger has moved quickly to quash reports he wants to leave Liverpool after the Dane appeared to warn Brendan Rodgers he will walk out on the club if he continues to be left on the bench.

Agger tweeted on Tuesday morning:

Liverpool’s vice-captain cannot break into the first-team and appeared unwilling to wait for his fortunes to change in a recent interview with Danish TV.

Kevin Francis of the Daily Star provides the quotes, which were reportedly given by Agger when asked what it would take to prompt him to leave Anfield:

"

First of all, if I don’t play.

If the manager doesn’t think I’m good enough, that could make me leave Liverpool.

I’m here to play football, nothing else. So if I don’t play football, then I don’t want to be here anymore.

"

Agger has some reason to feel aggrieved at his lack of game time at Liverpool, particularly given that he was installed as vice-captain in the aftermath of Jamie Carragher’s retirement.

The centre-back was part of the defence that began the season with three clean sheets, including the 1-0 shutout of Manchester United.

He made the odd mistake—rescued by Simon Mignolet after giving away a late penalty against Stoke—but his last start was the 1-0 home loss to Southampton, which saw him taken off after 57 minutes.

Circumstance has, to an extent, harmed the Dane’s season. He suffered a freak rib injury prior to Liverpool’s trip to Swansea, allowing Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho to strike up a partnership in defence.

Rodgers has also switched to a back-three, adding Kolo Toure alongside that pair to knock Agger even further down the pecking order.

However, Liverpool have not kept a clean sheet since Sept. 1, a period during which Agger has only started a solitary game.

At his best he is Liverpool’s classiest defender, capable of bringing the ball out of defence and starting attacks. However, his defending at set-pieces and his concentration is, at times, questionable.

Should he express a wish to leave Liverpool, Agger would have many suitors, not least Barcelona who were strongly linked to a summer move for the 28-year-old, per ESPN FC.

However, he would be better advised to take a leaf out of Skrtel's book by staying quiet and fighting for his spot back in the Liverpool side.

Skrtel was dropped for a significant chunk of last season and only regained his place due to an injury to Toure ahead of the United game. A Man-of-the-Match performance earned his spot and Rodgers has proven he rewards solid form with loyalty.