Liverpool great Jamie Carragher says young forward Bobby Duncan should leave agent Saif Rubie before the 18-year-old's representative gets him the sack.
Rubie released a statement on Twitter on Wednesday condemning both the club and Reds sporting director Michael Edwards, accusing them of 'bullying' and damaging the teenager's mental health by denying him a loan move this summer.
Both Serie A outfit Fiorentina and Danish side FC Nordsjaelland had been linked with loan moves for Duncan, who has never played a senior game for the Reds but did feature for the first-team in pre-season, scoring in their first game of the summer at Tranmere Rovers.
Duncan - the cousin of Carragher's former Reds teammate Steven Gerrard - was a key member of the Liverpool side that won the FA Youth Cup last season, but Rubie claimed that he would "never play for the first-team" at Anfield.
"It's a sad state of affairs that a club such as a Liverpool can be allowed to get away with mentally bullying and destroying the life of a young man such as Bobby," said Rubie in part of the statement.
"I know one thing for sure, and that is he is never going back there again and he's on such a small salary that no amount of fines will even make a difference.
"In this situation all that matters is the player's health and in this case Michael Edwards has totally ignored that because of his own stubbornness and I really pray that his experience doesn't happen to any young players again."
Carragher became embroiled in a war of words with Rubie on Twitter after the statement, and accused the agent of giving the youngster bad advice and jeopardising his career at the club with his attack on Edwards.
The Sky Sports pundit then tweeted: "I think Bobby Duncan should leave this guy before he gets sacked by the club."
Carragher added that he felt the club "would never deal with" Rubie again after the outburst.
Liverpool responded on Wednesday, saying: ""Liverpool Football Club is aware 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."
