Ben Woodburn: The Hearts target and 'incredible talent' in need of a career kick-start

Hearts are interested in bringing in Liverpool youngster Ben Woodburn if they can agree a loan move for the Welsh international.

Ben Woodburn celebrates after scoring for Wales on his international debut. Picture: SNS

If they can complete the transfer, he would represent the third major signing in the centre of the park this summer after the addition of Beni Baningime and the imminent arrival of Cameron Devlin. Unlike those two, Woodburn is a more attacking midfielder. Though he can play as a No.8 or even on the wing, he’s at home as a No.10.

This is a high-risk, high-reward gamble in the transfer market. Three years ago the 21-year-old was looked upon as one of the most exciting prospects in European football after becoming the youngster player ever to score for both Liverpool and Wales. You may remember his goal for the latter. It came just as the home support were finishing off a goosebump-raising rendition of Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau. Woodburn then picked up the ball and dispatched it emphatically into the bottom corner to defeat Austria on his international debut.

He was so highly thought of at Anfield that Jurgen Klopp personally intervened in his first loan move as he sought to create the perfect pathway for him to become a regular in the Anfield squad. But it’s all been downhill since then.

The worry from a Hearts perspective is if Woodburn proves to be another player who shows early flashes but fails to live up to the hype, soon seeing their career trajectory spiral. We’ve witnessed it countless times with emerging talents at one of the bigger clubs down south. Once the early sparkle has gone they tend to keep dropping until they’re into the non-leagues and football obscurity.

His three loan spells from Liverpool were all negative in different ways. At Sheffield United he was expected to play a significant role for a team fighting for promotion back to the English Premier League, but the success of Chris Wilder’s side meant he struggled to force his way into the team. At Oxford United in League One he was playing excellently before injury robbed him of the majority of the season. Lastly, his stint at Blackpool, again in League One, saw him knocked out of the starting XI by Covid-19 after just two games. When he returned he found his old Liverpool under-23s coach Neil Critchley had changed the shape of the team into a 4-4-2 with a direct playing style, which didn’t suit the player’s strengths.

In Woodburn’s defence, there’s an element of bad luck in all of that. It’s also why he’s desperate to find a home that will promise him regular first-team football. His contract is up next summer and he needs to find somewhere to demonstrate he hasn’t lost what led his old boss at Oxford, Karl Robinson, to call him “an incredible talent”.

At Tynecastle he would likely find a place either as a No.8 in the 3-4-3 or, more likely, one of the attacking midfielders supporting lone striker Liam Boyce. Woodburn is a quick and creative player with strong spatial awareness and a good touch. He has a penchant for attempting through balls and would provide a different option in the front three if paired with a more classical wide-man, like Josh Ginnelly for instance.

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