Liverpool ‘disappointed’ by Bobby Duncan’s agent allegations of bullying

One of Duncan's representatives, Saif Rubie, made allegations on Twitter

Liverpool are ‘disappointed’ by allegations made by a representative of Bobby Duncan, accusing the club and sporting director Michael Edwards of ‘mentally bullying’ the player.

Saif Rubie, who works closely with Duncan, has claimed in a lengthy statement posted on Twitter that the 18-year-old will never play for Liverpool again after being refused a loan move this summer.

Duncan has been the subject of interest from Fiorentina, with a £1.6m bid from the Serie A club rejected at the weekend. Loan interest from Nordsjaelland was dismissed last week.

Rubie claims Liverpool and Edwards have refused to consider any offers for Duncan and are holding him at the club “against his will”, despite believing that he will never be good enough to play for the first team.

A Liverpool statement on Wednesday, made on behalf of both the club and Edwards, described the allegations as ”inaccurate speculation” and ”inflammatory statements”.

“Liverpool Football Club is aware of and disappointed by the unattributed comments and unfounded allegations that have been made in the media regarding one of our players,” it read.

“As the interests of the player in question are not best served by either inaccurate speculation, inflammatory statements or public discourse, we will be making no further comment.

“We will, however, continue our efforts to work privately with the player to find resolution in the best interests of all involved.”

Duncan, who joined Liverpool from Manchester City in 2018, retweeted his agent’s post without making any further comment.

The 18-year-old scored 32 goals for Liverpool’s Under-18s side last season, including a crucial equaliser against his former club in the FA Youth Cup final.