Jurgen Klopp made “wonderful player” claim at Liverpool FC - Cardiff City and Millwall were left disappointed | OneFootball

Jurgen Klopp once labelled Sheyi Ojo a “wonderful player”, but he never really kicked on, as Cardiff City and Millwall fans will be well aware of.

Winger Sheyi Ojo was touted for a glittering career when coming through the youth ranks at Liverpool but has flattered to deceive during his playing days.

After being signed by the Reds from MK Dons at the age of fourteen for a reported £2m fee, the Hemel Hempstead-born attacker was poised to reach the very top of the game, but it didn’t work out on the red half of Merseyside, with Ojo moving from club to club with very little success.

During his seven-year professional career at Liverpool, Ojo spent time on loan at Wigan Athletic, Wolves, Reims, and Rangers, along with a promotion-winning stint at Fulham, before making a return to the Championship with Cardiff City and Millwall.

It’s a far cry from the comments then-Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp made about Ojo, who, in his first season, gave the attacker eight appearances and then, by the summer, was publicly described by the German as a "wonderful player", whose future was "100 per cent" with the Reds.

But the 28-year-old has never been able to justify the hype, unable to produce consistent levels of performance wherever he's been.

Cardiff City and Millwall supporters will have been particularly frustrated by his showings, as Ojo failed to add any dynamism to their attacking lines during his stints.

Sheyi Ojo's disastrous spells at Cardiff City and Millwall

Cardiff were another Championship club to take a gamble by signing Sheyi Ojo on loan after he had previously spent time in the second-tier with Wigan, Wolves and Fulham — helping the latter to promotion in the 2017/18 campaign.

Though once again blighted by inconsistency, Ojo managed to impress during Neil Harris' second season at the helm and returned five strikes and seven assists from 25 starts, with some believing this campaign was the turning point in his career.

He did fall down the pecking order under Mick McCarthy following his appointment at the end of January and departed Cardiff to join Millwall on yet another loan deal, but this change of environment was disastrous as the attacker was unable to generate any forward momentum while at The Den.

In a nightmare spell, Ojo failed to net for the club and produced just two assists from 18 Championship games, which was enough to see Liverpool pull the plug on his contract and release him during that summer.

After that, Cardiff decided to take a fresh punt on Ojo, with the attacker signing on a permanent deal, raising excitement levels among the Cardiff faithful that he would return to his best.

But once again, he failed to regularly contribute the year he was there. Cardiff sorely struggled across the 2022/23 season and were only saved from relegation courtesy of Reading's six-point deduction.

The Bluebirds were so blunt in the attacking areas throughout the term, with Ojo unable to transform their fortunes. With a lack of attacking impetus, Ojo was a major disappointment, scoring just once and contributing no assists from 36 matches.

Cardiff had seen enough by such poor displays, loaning him out to sister club Kortrijk of the Belgian top-flight heading into the second and final year of his contract in the Welsh capital.

Sheyi Ojo’s latest club highlights downfall

After claiming just a goal and an assist in the Belgian Pro League, Sheyi Ojo was released by Cardiff, electing to move to Slovenian outfit Maribor rather than dropping to League One following the Bluebirds’ relegation to the third-tier in the 2024-25 term.

Considered the prime of Ojo’s career, many couldn’t have foreseen he’d be in this situation, with the attacker hoping a move away from England could reignite some quality that he had when rising through the youth ranks at Anfield.

It hasn’t worked out so far though, with Ojo yet again failing to pull up any trees with his numbers.

In his debut campaign, he registered just one goal and two assists from 27 league appearances, although he matched that tally from his first nine games in 2025-26.

However, his track record indicates that he won’t be able to maintain a consistent level throughout the course of a full campaign, and it’s a shame to see such a talented individual fail to kick on when there was so much expectation for him to do so.