Aberdeen full back Calvin Ramsay hit the jackpot in June 2022 when he landed a dream move to Premier League giants Liverpool.

The then 18-year-old had only broken into the Dons first team at the start of the previous season, but scooped up the SFWA Young Player of the Year after making 33 appearances in all competitions. Those displays convinced Anfield boss Jurgen Klopp to fork out an initial £4million - with the potential of an additional £2.5m in add ons - to sign the teenager, the most Aberdeen had ever received for a player at the time, which has since been eclipsed by Bojan Miovski's £6.5million switch to Girona last summer.

Ramsay was always going to be up against it in trying to force his way into the first team picture on Merseyside but arrived at the club with an undiagnosed back problem that kept him out of action for the first three months of the season. After working his way back to fitness with Liverpool's U23 side, Ramsay was handed a first team debut by Klopp as a late substitute in a Champions League tie against Napoli and followed it up with a solid 90 minute display in the EFL Cup win over Derby.

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Those performances caught the eye of Scotland gaffer Steve Clarke, with Ramsay earning a call-up to the senior squad in November 2022. The defender won his first and only cap so far when he was introduced as a half-time substitute in a 2-1 friendly defeat to Turkey, with the hope that he could be become another viable option to the national team at right back.

But nearly three years on from his fantasy move to Anfield, countless injury setbacks have seen things spiral downhill for the young Scot. A serious knee injury picked up in February 2023 meant that Ramsay had to go under the knife, missing the remainder of the season as a result. The former Pittodrie kid returned to pre-season training ahead of the following campaign but was then sent out on loan to Preston in England's second tier in order to get minutes.

However, that move turned out to be a disaster, with injury and illness restricting Ramsay to just two appearance before he was recalled by Liverpool in January 2024. The full back headed out on loan again in the second half of the season to Bolton Wanderers in EFL League One, but he didn't fare much better, appearing just four times in total.

In an exclusive interview with Record Sport back in October, Ramsay revealed that he always felt he had the backing of Klopp during his injury-ravaged spell working under the German. The Scot also credited the guidance from compatriot and national team skipper Andy Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Ibrahima Konate in helping keep his spirits up.

However, the emergence of Northern Ireland star Connor Bradley as understudy to Liverpool hero Trent Alexander-Arnold has seen Ramsay fall even further down the pecking order under new Anfield gaffer Arne Slot last summer, and he was once again sent out on loan to Wigan try and get some regular football under his belt. But almost unsurprisingly, it's been another torrid few months for Ramsay, who has played just 302 minutes in England's third tier, with only three of those eight outings coming from the start.

With Real Madrid pushing hard to sign Alexander-Arnold on a free transfer next summer, Liverpool will have a job on their hands to try and fill the void that could be left by the England star.The pacey and clever Bradley is in pole position to take up the mantle. but Slot is more than likely to go into the market for another right back if Alexander-Arnold becomes the latest Galactico in the Spanish capital.

In an ideal world, Ramsay would have hoped that he would at least be in contention to establish himself at Anfield in the way that Bradley - who is only his elder by a mere three weeks - has. But it just simply has not gone to plan for the 21-year-old, who very much finds himself in limbo as regards to his long-term future on Merseyside.

The ex-Aberdeen man's best years are still ahead of him, but his lack of minutes on the pitch ever since making the jump from the Scottish Premiership to the big league down south nearly three years ago are a real cause for concern.

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