Calvin Ramsay has a point to prove on loan at Wigan Athletic this season after a nightmare two seasons since joining Liverpool. The Reds signed the 21-year-old from Aberdeen in a deal worth up to £6.5m in June 2022 after an eye-catching breakthrough season in the Scottish Premiership.
But since then, everything that can go wrong has gone wrong for the young right-back.
A stress fracture in his back was spotted in his medical, while his first season at Anfield was ended prematurely by a knee injury which required surgery in February 2023. Sent on loan to Championship side Preston North End, he continued to be troubled by injury before contracting Covid-19 and was recalled in January having made just two appearances.
Now on loan with League One Wigan, he has made three appearances to date for the Latics, while he started on the right-wing for Scotland Under-21s against Spain last Friday.
Ramsay admits that it has been a struggle having to contend with so many setbacks since moving to Liverpool. But as well as being determined to prove people wrong, he’s also hungry to impress new head coach Arne Slot and show why the Reds signed him in the first place.
“It has been tough but I feel I’ve come back more resilient,” he said. “When I signed for Liverpool, everything was going great for me. My career was on an upward trajectory.
“So when you suddenly get a setback it’s tough to deal with. I was buzzing, then when that hits you it’s like: ‘Oh no, what’s happening here?’
“But I have a burning desire to get back to where I was when I signed for Liverpool and show people what I can do. A couple of managers haven’t given me game time so I want to prove why I should have been playing in their team.
“Any player wants to prove people wrong and show why you got that big move to a huge club. That’s what I have to do now.
“Obviously Jurgen (Klopp) has left Liverpool and the new gaffer (Slot) has come in. So I have to start again. So far I haven’t been able to show him what I’ve got yet as I’m out on loan.
“But there will be a time when I’m back at Liverpool working under him and showing what I can do on the pitch.”
Understandably such injury woes are hard for any player to contend with, never mind one still so young and yet to showcase his talents after completing a big-money transfer.
But after seeing how Ramsay was struggling, former manager Jurgen Klopp called him into his office at the AXA Training Centre and offered him some much-needed advice that helped instil some confidence in the downbeat Scot.
“Jurgen knew what it was like for a young player to go through injuries and pulled me into his office one day,” Ramsay revealed in an exclusive interview with the Daily Record.
