Liverpool are set to recall Billy Koumetio from his season-long loan with Austria Vienna, according to the Austrian side’s sporting director.
The defender has made 11 appearances for the Viennese club since joining them on a temporary basis in the summer, and has started seven times across all competitions. However, a late substitute appearance in a 4-0 Europa Conference League loss away at Hapoel Be'er Sheva on November 3 is one of just two outings, the other an OFB-Cup exit to Wiener SC, since the start of September.
In the weeks before the World Cup, the Frenchman found himself representing Vienna’s Young Violets rather than the first as he continued to be left out of former manager Manfred Schmid’s matchday squad. An ankle injury ultimately curtailed his progress with the club, while domestic homegrown rules have also limiting his opportunities with Austrian clubs entitled to bonus payments from the Austrian Football Association (OFB) if they don't name more than six foreign players in their matchday squads.
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The 20-year-old was back training with Liverpool at the Academy during the World Cup break, with Vienna, who had been tracking the defender for over a year and first tried to sign him on loan last season, not due back in competitive action until the middle of February due to the Austrian winter break. And following the Reds’ return to action, Koumetio had been scheduled to return to Austria this month.
But speaking at the presentation of new manager Michael Wimmer, Austria Vienna sporting director Manuel Ortlechner has confirmed that Liverpool are in talks to end his loan spell prematurely.
"We are in close contact and I have a phone call to Liverpool later because they would like to bring Koumetio back," explained Ortlechner.
“We still think this is an incredibly exciting player. He can have a really exciting career. But Liverpool want to bring him back now, they have the right.
“We still have to clarify everything in the end, but 99 percent of the time Billy Koumetio will no longer play for Austria Wien.”
Despite his limited game-time, Koumetio insisted that he was enjoying his time with Austria Vienna in an exclusive interview with the ECHO, published last month.
“I’ve felt very good here, it’s been a few months. It’s very different to Liverpool and even England, the country,” he said. “The club is different, the league is different, the language is different. Everything is different.
“Everything is new for me but I would say I am now used to moving out of my comfort zone, from where I usually live. I was in France before I moved to England, and even before I moved to Liverpool, I moved from Lyon to Orleans.
“I was there for six months so there I learned how to cope with being away from my family. Then I moved from England to Austria. It’s still a change. But it doesn’t really impact me in a bad way, otherwise I wouldn’t have made the move.”
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