it’s peculiar 
If it’s just a case of him simply not been good enough at this level and not able to show it in training, then it is what it is. He’s 26 and hadn’t played above championship level, so it wouldn’t be the biggest surprise if he isn’t good enough.
This is my take on it. He appeared in some metrics at the back end of last year as showing excellent recoveries and one-on-ones, as well as shown a decent level of quality for Preston in the cup against City. We've looked into him, seen his rapid development - he was struggling to get a game for Fleetwood at left back 3 years ago- and wondered, given his late start in league football and his huge strides taken within the space of 2/3 years, whether we could place him into an elite coaching/training environment and extract further levels from him. I'm just not sure it was ever there to begin with. Too much of a jump, perhaps.
Had he gone to Burnley, maybe even Brighton, perhaps to Sheffield Utd, he'd have featured and found his feet at their level. Liverpool isn't that though.
I like the guy, came across well in early interviews but if we're not moving on Phillips or loaning Williams, given we now have 4 Senior CBs in addition to those two, I think taking a small profit and allowing him to actually move on and play for a massive club like Celtic or push for promotion to the Prem with Sheffield Utd or the like is the right thing to do. Shame to lose a homegrown player but what's the use when he's not ever going to play.
