LIVERPOOL -- Liverpool under-23s manager Neil Critchley says any plans to loan Harry Wilson out in the summer were shelved due to the forward's injury.
After scoring 28 goals for the U23s in 2016-17, Wilson picked up an Achilles injury in the preseason that would keep him out of action until September.
In April, sources told ESPN FC that a carefully selected loan move to the Championship or League One may be sought if Wilson's first-team opportunities would appear to be limited.
Speaking to the media ahead the U23s' encounter with Tottenham Hotspur at Anfield on Friday night, Critchley revealed Liverpool will soon assess whether Wilson, 20, will temporarily depart in the January transfer window.
He said: "You can have ideas. I suppose a plan is difficult to stick to because you're reliant on maybe others clubs or people coming in for Harry on loan.
"But with him being injured, that put that plan to bed for a little while. I'm sure we'll revisit that in January.
"If he would have been injury-free in preseason then maybe that would have happened prior to the window closing. It hasn't. He wasn't ready for that.
"He's been fantastic for us. He's hit the ground running. It will do him no harm in building his confidence and playing for us in the next few months. Then when we get to January, I'm sure we'll revisit his plan for the future again."
One player who did leave Liverpool on loan in the recent transfer window was Ryan Kent, who secured a switch to Freiburg in the Bundesliga.
Kent turned down a number of clubs in England, instead opting for Germany, with sources saying the 20-year-old recognised the importance of this season in his own personal development.
"He had lots of other options in this country, but to go and play in Germany's top league is a real challenge," Critchley said.
"I think that tells you a lot about Ryan's mindset. He's grown up so much in the past two or three years. I'm looking for my plane ticket to go out and watch him play at some point.
"I'd love to see him play in that environment because he's a young player with great promise and it will be really interesting to see how he does this season. It will be a great test for him.
"We're very close [in contact with the loanees]. We speak to them. The staff always speak to them. It's a phone call, you're speaking to them, the staff are speaking to their staff.
"It's not out of sight or out of mind -- it's far from it. They're our players and they still come under our watch. We're watching them."