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Jurgen Klopp admits he can now see the benefits of sending Liverpool players out on loan – but says a move must be right for their development.

When Klopp arrived at Anfield last October he was shocked to discover the Reds had 17 players on loan.

The manager insisted at the time: “I’m not sure it’s always best to give young players to other clubs. I think it’s a kind of pressure you don’t need at that age.”

Klopp had been used to the German structure where clubs nurture their own talent – a process made easier by the fact that Borussia Dortmund’s under-23s play in the regionalised third tier of senior German football.

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Over the past 10 months the Liverpool boss has learned more about the issues that exist in England when it comes to trying to bridge the gap from the youth ranks to the first team.

The much-maligned U21s league has been changed to U23s this season and rebranded as Premier League 2 in a bid to make it more competitive – but Klopp has still sanctioned six loans and more are likely.

Ryan Kent (Barnsley), Jon Flanagan (Burnley), Ryan Fulton (Chesterfield), Adam Bogdan (Wigan), Allan Rodrigues De Souza (Hertha Berlin) and Danny Ward (Huddersfield) have all departed on temporary deals.

“I have learned a lot in the past nine months about British football and the mentality,” Klopp told the ECHO.

“In Germany the U19s championship is a real challenge. It’s really important. They have supporters and a final live on TV.

“Youth teams can play up to the third division – it’s a real competition there.

“Here it’s more like a league made up of friendly games. No crowds. It’s quite different.

“I don’t want a situation where every week I send someone like Ryan Kent to our second team. He’s in a really good way. It would make no sense to keep him in our squad but then play there.

“He needs a fixed base. He’s at an age and in a shape where we should try it on loan. There are others who may also go out but there have been no final decisions yet.”

Klopp says a loan move isn’t the right option for some of the gifted youngsters in Michael Beale’s U23s squad.

“If your mentality is better for staying and you are still a kid then you should stay,” he added.

“We should improve our training and improve the games in terms of creating different situations for them with tournaments here and there. It need to be something you can win.

“We always need to have a good (U23s) team because the good players who stay need good team-mates to play with.

“But there are some players who were close to the first team who we decided it would be best if they went out on loan.”