Nathaniel Clyne Signs Deal with Crystal Palace

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The former Liverpool right back rejoins his boyhood club after leaving 8 years ago.

Nathaniel Clyne has officially signed a short term contract with Crystal Palace, his boyhood club. The right back’s Liverpool contract ended this June, and LFC elected not to renew Clyne’s deal. He’d been training with Crystal Palace in recent weeks, and officially completed a deal today after featuring in a U-23 match earlier this month.

The 29-year-old Clyne originally joined Liverpool from Southampton in July of 2015. He quickly cemented his role as the first choice right back, and made 93 appearances in his first two seasons with the Reds.

Though Clyne wasn’t the high flying attacking fullback that Liverpool fans have grown accustomed to in recent seasons, he established himself as a very reliable option on the right side of Liverpool’s defense. He could usually be depended upon to hold down the right side at a time when Liverpool had a reputation for defensive lapses.

After two seasons of being a staple in the Liverpool lineup, Clyne suffered a back injury prior to the 2017-18 season that held him out of the lineup until February. By that time, young phenom, Trent Alexander-Arnold, had emerged as a star in the making, and Clyne was relegated to a backup role. He made only 10 appearances over the remainder of the 17-18 and the 18-19 seasons.

With the lack of playing time, and his Liverpool career seemingly reaching an end, Clyne was loaned out to Bournemouth in January of 2019, making 15 appearances for the Cherries over the second half of the season.

The right back returned to Liverpool in the summer, and he was linked with a move to Crystal Palace before he suffered an ACL injury in a pre-season friendly against Borussia Dortmund in July of 2019. The injury eliminated any chance of a loan or transfer, and he missed the entirety of the 2019-20 season. This marked the end of Clyne’s Liverpool career. He parted ways with LFC having scored two goals and assisted five more over 103 total appearances for the Reds.

He’ll now rejoin Crystal Palace, the club with which his career began. Clyne was a key member of the Palace squad before he left to join newly promoted Southampton eight years ago. At the age of 20, Clyne played all 46 of Crystal Palace’s matches in the 2010-11 Championship season. He was the youngest player to feature in every Championship match that campaign, and his efforts earned him the club’s Player of the Year award.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com