Manager slams his £26 million midfielder as decision to snub Liverpool move turns sour.

Orkun Kokcu’s move to Benfica is taking a turn for the worst, less than a year after Liverpool reportedly missed out on signing him.

Liverpool just needed to invest on new midfielders last summer.

Jurgen Klopp‘s engine room had become stale and was possibly on its last legs.

Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, James Milner, Naby Keita, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all left, making room for new players.

Alexis MacAllister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo, and Ryan Gravenberch arrived, and the results have been enormously amazing.

Liverpool are once again a title contender, and much of the credit goes to reviving the middle.

However, the Reds had other goals in mind, and one player on their radar may wish he had moved to Anfield.

Orkun Kokcu finds himself in trouble.

Last summer, 1908.nl reported that Liverpool was ‘very close’ to signing Feyenoord’s Orkun Kokcu.

Liverpool had identified the Turkish star as a primary target and reportedly pressed forward with a deal.
However, the report indicated that Kokcu chose Benfica despite Liverpool‘s request that he not finalise the transfer.

Benfica paid up to €30 million (£26 million) for Kokcu, clearly believing they had pulled off a big coup.

Despite scoring three goals and contributing seven assists in 19 league appearances, the 23-year-old has had a tough season.

Just over a week after scoring and assisting against Estoril, Kokcu told De Telegraaf that Benfica manager Roger Schmidt was deploying him in a position that was too defensive for his ability.

Kokcu believed he would benefit from playing farther forward and that he would play a larger role under Schmidt.

The Benfica manager was not pleased with Kokcu‘s statements and has excluded him from the squad.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Schmidt advised that Kokcu cannot be a member of the squad after such an interview.

Schmidt stated that it is ‘impossible’ for Kokcu to appear following those words and that the interview was ‘extremely terrible’ for everyone.

“If you conduct that type of interview, you cannot be a member of the team. “Impossible,” Schmidt replied.

“I didn’t speak to the player yet, but I’ll tell him that he did something absolutely negative for club, team and especially for himself,” he said.

Sure enough, Kokcu did not play in Sunday’s victory over Casa Pia, and his time in Lisbon appears to be fading.

Liverpool are unlikely to re-sign Kokcu this summer, and the midfielder may rue his decision from last summer as he considers a move away at the conclusion of the season.