Was the signing of Calvin Ramsay a mistake?

Liverpool signed Calvin Ramsay in the summer of 2022 as a long-awaited competition for Trent Alexander-Arnold.

The Englishman had essentially been devoid of competition throughout his Liverpool career with Nathaniel Clyne suffering injuries early on in Trent’s rise and Neco Williams not being of high enough quality to effectively challenge the right-back.

However, the signing of Ramsay was set to change that.

A Scotsman with similar attributes to the 24-year-old, both being great passers of the ball and able to strike a ball with impressive technique.

In just the one season he played at boyhood club Aberdeen, the 19-year-old won the SFWA Young Player of the Year.

However, a year on and two appearances for Liverpool later, fans are questioning whether signing Ramsay was a mistake for the Merseyside club.

Patience is a virtue

Patience is certainly something that is lost in modern football.

You saw it with Cody Gakpo when he arrived in Liverpool in January.

The Dutchman came to Liverpool at a time when the team was not performing well and after failing to score in his first few appearances, some fans were ready to call him a failure.

Players are different, some hit the ground running, like Mohamed Salah who scored on his debut for Liverpool, and some need time to adjust, like Roberto Firmino who scored his first Liverpool goal three months after his debut.

Ramsay has been plagued with injuries this season (2022/23) and effectively didn’t get a chance to prove himself to Jürgen Klopp.

The Scotsman made just two appearances for the first team before suffering an unspecified injury in February, leading to him being ruled out for the rest of the season.

It would be quite harsh to give up on a player after two appearances and just one start, especially when that player has the talent Ramsay has.

No more injury-prone players

Liverpool have certainly been plagued with several injury-prone players in the last few years.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keïta, Joël Matip, and Joe Gomez are just a few players that have missed a significant number of games in their Liverpool careers.

Injuries have been a factor in Liverpool’s poor form this season, having experienced a strange amount of injuries with some players out for months at a time.

The Merseyside club can’t afford to take on another injury-prone player, especially when they aim to get back to the successes they’ve achieved over the last few years.

Should Liverpool take their time with Ramsay and see what he can do next season or do they cut their losses and look for another right-back this summer?