Ryan Babel on the Verge of Anfield Exit as Liverpool Accept Hoffenheim Offer

Liverpool FC have today confirmed that they have accepted an offer from German top-flight club TSG 1899 Hoffenheim for their Dutch attacker Ryan Babel.

Babel has been the subject of speculation for around a year, having been unable to force his way into the starting 11 at Anfield with any kind of regularity since his arrival from Ajax in 2007. Indeed, in his four and a half seasons at Liverpool he is yet to start five league matches in a row.

Although the German club have had their offer—rumoured to be in the region of €7 million—accepted and Babel has flown to Germany for personal talks and a medical, there remains intense speculation that he could be reunited with his former club Ajax in a part-exchange deal which would see Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez arrive at Anfield. An £18 million fee, plus Babel, has been mentioned in some quarters.

Originally used at Liverpool under Rafa Benitez as a left-sided forward in his favoured 4-2-3-1 system, Babel alternately amazed and frustrated Reds fans early on, with a combination of skill and goals competing against running down blind alleys and giving away the ball for Ryan's trademark moves.

His first season at Anfield was by far his best, as he notched 10 goals in his maiden season in England, including two goals in the 8-0 Champions League record victory over Besiktas of Turkey. Having arrived for a reported fee of over £10 million, big things were expected of Babel. All in all, his first season was seen as promising for a young attacker and Liverpool's fans were expecting more to come in the years ahead.

Sadly, it never quite happened for Babel as a combination of not being first choice, not getting regular game time in his preferred position of centre forward and poor application during games meant that he never cemented a place in Liverpool's strongest team.

Indeed, he has arguably had to wait until this season to get a few games in his natural centre forward role, but with Fernando Torres the undisputed No. 1 in that position, Babel was always going to find his chances limited without serious improvement to both his match day mentality and his goal scoring ratio.

In the three and a half years since that promising debut season, Babel has netted just an additional 12 goals; never has he managed to even score five league goals in one Premiership campaign.

Possibly Babel's greatest strike in a Liverpool shirt came against Lyon in the Champions League, though strikes against Chelsea and Derby County will also no doubt live long in the memory. Be that as it may, Babel's total goal tally for Liverpool of 22 in 146 games will leave the most telling mark: a hugely promising potential star who never quite had the mental strength to make it at the top.

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