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Liverpool youngster Allan Rodrigues de Souza is set to stay on loan at Hertha Berlin for another season.

The Reds are resigned to the fact that their wait to secure a work permit for the Brazil Under-20s international will be extended until the summer of 2018.

Allan has only started five league matches for Hertha this term - meaning he still won’t satisfy the criteria required to be given the green light to get his Anfield career underway.

Liverpool always knew it would be difficult for Allan to hold down a place at Hertha, who sit fifth in the Bundesliga table. However, they wanted the 20-year-old to test himself at a top-six club in one of Europe’s elite leagues.

The only youngsters who have played more regularly than Allan in the Bundesliga this term are Borussia Dortmund duo Christian Pulisic and Ousmane Dembele, and Eintracht Frankfurt defender Jesus Vallejo. Allan has started the same number of matches as highly-rated Bayern Munich teenager Renato Sanches.

The Reds believe the time spent at Hertha has been beneficial for his progress and discussions are underway about the prospect of him returning to Berlin for the 2017/18 campaign.

Hertha are on course to qualify for the Europa League and playing in European competition next term would bolster Allan’s case for a work permit to play in England.

Work permit rules were tightened for non-European Union players back in 2015. Points are awarded for various criteria including the transfer fee, wages, international caps, the level of the club they are coming from and whether a player has featured in 30% or more of the available domestic league minutes.

Allan joined Liverpool in a £500,000 deal from Internacional in his homeland in the summer of 2015. He had loan stints with Finnish side SJK and Sint-Truiden of Belgium before linking up with Hertha Berlin last summer.

Hertha general manager Michael Preetz praised Allan for his performance in their 1-0 win over Wolfsburg last weekend.

“Allan played well,” he said.

“What is striking is that he never hides and always wants the ball, including in periods when he’s not having the best time out there.

“He makes a case for himself with performance like on Saturday.”