Liverpool forward pens a season-long loan deal with Derby County.
Derby County have landed exciting England youth international forward Jordon Ibe on a season-long loan deal from Premier League side Liverpool.
The 18-year-old completed the relevant paperwork at the Derby County Training Centre this afternoon, following successful talks with Head Coach Steve McClaren.
Ibe is the second player to move to the iPro Stadium in a loan deal inside a year following the arrival of Andre Wisdom last season, who went on to play a key role in Derby’s promotion challenge.
A wide forward with lightening pace, McClaren has been a long-time admirer of Ibe and he could feature in the squad for Saturday’s home game with Ipswich Town (30th August 2014), should he receive clearance from the Football League and Premier League.
McClaren commented: “We’re delighted that Liverpool have again chosen to loan us one of their promising young players.
“Jordon Ibe is someone who we’ve been aware of for quite a while and have been impressed whenever we’ve seen him in action.
“He has a lot of potential and we believe that we can help his career development.”
He added: “He is a direct player with plenty of ability and he will certainly strengthen the attacking options we are able to call upon.”
Ibe progressed through the youth system at League 2 Wycombe Wanderers and made his debut for the Chairboys at the age of just 15 in August 2011.
He made 14 first-team appearances and his qualities attracted the interest of several Premier League sides, with Liverpool winning the race to secure his services in December 2011 for an undisclosed fee.
After impressing in the Under 18 and Under 21 sides at Anfield, he made his first-team bow by being named in the starting line-up for the 1-0 win over Queens Park Rangers on the final day of the 2012/13 season.
He made two further appearances for the Reds last season, against Notts County in the Capital One Cup and Arsenal in the Premier League, before joining Championship side Birmingham City on loan for the rest of the season in February 2014.
Ibe made 11 appearances and scored once, in a 3-2 win at Millwall, as the Blues avoided relegation to League 1 on the final day of the season.
He has caps for England and Under 18 and Under 19 level and was yesterday called up to the England Under 20 squad for their game against Romania next month.
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