AC Milan have completed and confirmed the signing of Divock Origi, who has officially become their player after his contract with Liverpool expired.
The 27-year-old striker is believed to have rejected advances from Villarreal, as well as some Premier League and Bundesliga clubs, to join the Rossoneri.
Liverpool signed Origi back in 2014, but a part of the agreement was for him to remain with previous club LOSC Lille on loan for a season more. He played a significant role as Liverpool reached the Europa League final in 2015/16, but that summer, Jurgen Klopp’s revolution began in earnest. The Belgian quickly lost his place in the team as the Klopp switched from 4-2-3-1 to 4-3-3 as his first-choice system, where Roberto Firmino throve in the ‘false nine’ role, flanked by Sadio Mane on the right and Philippe Coutinho.
The situation became even more desperate for Origi in 2017, when the club signed Mohamed Salah, and even though Coutinho was already paving a road to Barcelona, there seemed no way back for Origi and he went to Wolfsburg on loan for the following season.
Despite never being considered a regular starter again, Origi later became an indisputable hero, a “Liverpool legend” as Klopp himself described him more than once. Not without merit, of course, as Origi scored some crucial goals in matches that paved the way for glory days to return to Liverpool – the 96th- Merseyside Derby winner, the first and final goal in the 4-0 rout of Coutinho’s Barcelona in the 2019 Champions League semifinal, as well as the goal that sealed Liverpool’s 2-0 triumph over Tottenham Hotspur later in the final.
In 175 matches for Liverpool in all competitions, Origi scored a total of 41 goals and produced 18 assists. He leaves Merseyside with the Champions League, the Premier League, the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup, the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup medals around his neck.
With Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Olivier Giroud well in their declining football years, there can be no doubt that Origi, at the age of 27, will prove a valuable addition to the Milan ranks.
