Jurgen Klopp has appeared to suggest he regrets letting Harry Wilson leave on loan, claiming he would have kept the winger at Liverpool this season if he had "another choice".
The Wales international sealed a season-long loan move to Bournemouth in the summer having impressed during spells at Hull and Derby in recent seasons.
The 22-year-old has enjoyed similar success at the Vitality Stadium, scoring six in 14 Premier League matches, but was unavailable for Saturday's match against his parent club Liverpool.
The Reds maintained their brilliant start to the campaign, keeping a rare clean sheet as they won 3-0 to seal a seventh successive League victory.
Klopp joked ahead of the game: "I am happy [Wilson] cannot play against us, to be honest."
His chances of first team football at Anfield were always going to be limited, but an injury to Xherdan Shaqiri would likely have opened the door to playing time under Klopp this season.
Asked about Wilson, the Liverpool boss said: "Of course he can [succeed at Anfield]. That's why we loaned him, so he can make the steps.
"It would have been difficult for Harry and I would have loved to have had him here if we had another choice, especially when Shaq [Xherdan Shaqiri] was injured."
