Liverpool have been accused of ‘mentally bullying’ striker Bobby Duncan.
Duncan’s agent Saif Rubie made the claims in an extraordinary statement posted on Twitter on Wednesday, claiming that the teenager will not return to the club.
Rubie alleges that the Reds’ sporting director Michael Edwards also refused to sanction potential loan moves for Duncan to Fiorentina and Nordsjaelland.
The 18-year-old is a cousin of Steven Gerrard and joined his boyhood club in summer 2018 after failing to agree a new contract with Manchester City.
His prolific form for Liverpool’s under-18s, where he scored 32 times last term, also included a goal in the FA Youth Cup final against his former employers.
But Duncan, who featured in the Eurpoean champions’ pre-season campaign, was absent from the club’s under-23 side when faced Southampton on Monday.
“A few months ago before the end of last season, Bobby had meetings with the club’s hierarchy including academy director Alex Inglethorpe,” Rubie claimed in a lengthy statement.
“It was recognised that Bobby wasn’t happy at Liverpool for different reasons and Alex invited us to bring offers to the club for the exit of Bobby Duncan.
“For a player with zero first-team experience, no clubs were prepared to pay an outright reasonable [sic] fee for a player they got for £200,000 last summer.
“With that in mind we have been able to find clubs that were ready to take Bobby on a season-long loan with an option to buy for amounts of £1.5m upwards which is a great return for the club on a player who will never play for the Liverpool first team and who doesn’t want to be there.
“The club and Michael Edwards specifically made it clear that that kind of deal wouldn’t work.
“So then myself and my team worked even harder and managed to get a deal on the table for a loan with an obligation to buy after five starts with a higher transfer fee than before and a sell-on to Liverpool.”
He added: “The real reason Bobby missed the under-23 game on Monday is because he has suffered some deep mental health issues with all the stress the club has put him under.
“Stress of being told he can leave but then going out of their way to force him to stay against his will.
“Not only is he on a very small salary but he also has one season left on his contract after this one and Liverpool have flatly said he will not get a new one.
“Bobby has not left his room for four days because of this and will never go back to Liverpool again and my only concern now is his mental health and wellbeing …
“It’s a sad state of affairs that a club such as Liverpool can be allowed to get away with mentally bullying and destroying the life of a young man such as Bobby.”
Anfield officials dispute Rubie’s claims and are considering whether to take legal action over its defamatory nature in relation to both the club and Edwards.
A club spokeperson said: “Liverpool Football Club is aware of and disappointed by the unattributed comments and unfounded allegations that have been made in the media regarding one of our players.
“As the interests of the player in question are not best served by either inaccurate speculation, inflammatory statements or public discourse, we will be making no further comment.
“We will, however, continue our efforts to work privately with the player to find resolution in the best interests of all involved.”