Among the numerous high-profile departures from Liverpool last summer, the exit of Tyler Morton seemed to go comparatively unnoticed.
The academy graduate made just 14 first-team appearances for his boyhood club before joining Lyon last August for a modest sum of £15m (ESPN), a transfer which has worked out wonderfully for the 23-year-old.
The midfielder played 43 times for Les Gones this season – just over triple the number of games he racked up on Merseyside – and helped them to a fourth-place finish in Ligue 1, earning them a crack at Champions League qualification through the play-off rounds for 2026/27.
Despite that potential route into Europe’s main club competition, L’Equipe reported that Lyon continue to find themselves in a precarious financial situation and need to raise €20m (£17.3m) from player sales before the end of June in order to avoid potential sanctions.
The club’s hierarchy are duly receptive to offers for several first-team players as they seek to remain on the right side of trouble, but former Liverpool midfielder Morton is among those who are considered ‘untouchable’ and won’t be sold under any circumstances.
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While the grass isn’t always greener elsewhere for those who depart Anfield, the 23-year-old’s career has undoubtedly flourished since he cut the cord with his boyhood club nine months ago.
He admitted last month that he’s rediscovered his ‘love for football’ since joining Lyon, having felt a lack of ‘trust’ from Arne Slot during his one season of working under the Dutchman, who handed him a paltry five appearances (four in domestic cup competitions).
The galling irony for Liverpool is that, while the Wallasey native has thrived as a defensive midfielder in Ligue 1, the Reds have sorely lacked that secure number 6 presence in the Anfield engine room and have been scandalously easy for opposition teams to play through in this campaign.
From the club’s perspective, the only saving grace is that they negotiated a 20% sell-on clause in the deal which saw Morton join Lyon. His transfer value will soar even further if he continues on his current trajectory, so at least the Merseysiders stand to benefit whenever he moves on from the Groupama Stadium.
As much as we’d love to still have him at LFC, we’re delighted to see the 23-year-old flourishing elsewhere and realising the potential he’d shown after emerging from the Reds’ academy.
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