Liverpool confirm loan return as question grows over what went wrong
Liverpool have confirmed Lewis Koumas has returned from his loan spell at Birmingham City, and it inevitably raises the question of why the move never really caught fire.
The club announcement on Liverpoolfc.com is clear and factual.
“Lewis Koumas has returned to Liverpool from his loan spell at Birmingham City,” the update reads, adding that the 20-year-old “appeared 25 times in all competitions, netting one goal”.
It is not a disastrous return in terms of availability.
It is, however, a worrying one when you consider what a loan is supposed to provide: rhythm, starts, and a clear role.
Koumas loan return explained as Liverpool seek minutes pathway
The blunt reason this has not worked is simple: Koumas did not play enough.
SofaScore has him at 23 appearances but only seven starts, with 771 minutes in total.
That is roughly a cameo per week, rather than the consistent 70-to-90 minute blocks that accelerate a young attacker’s decision-making.
It also helps explain why the loan has ended with little momentum either way.
Koumas has previously shown he can handle the grind of the Championship, after a season at Stoke.
That is why this Birmingham spell stands out as a step sideways rather than forwards.
There was even an acknowledgement of the situation in his own words during this month, when he referenced the contrast with last season’s minutes and added that there had been “conversations” with Liverpool.
Koumas Birmingham numbers show why the loan did not spark
Here is the snapshot of his 2025/26 league output (via SofaScore), which underlines the problem.
| Metric | 25/26 (league) |
|---|---|
| Appearances (starts) | 23 (7) |
| Minutes | 771 |
| Goals | 1 |
| xG | 1.02 |
| Shots per game | 0.5 |
| Big chances missed | 3 |
| xA | 0.80 |
| Accurate passes | 4.9 (71%) |
The headline stat is the lack of threat.
One goal with three big chances missed suggests the moments did arrive, but not often enough, and not with the clinical edge needed to force his way into a starting shirt.
It also hints at a player who has been in and out, rather than trusted to play through a rough patch.
From Liverpool’s point of view, it is hard not to feel cautious about what comes next.
Slot has not leaned heavily on youth options this season, and that makes a clean route into the first team feel unlikely right now.
Koumas now needs the sort of reset that turns a ‘loan return’ into a new run of games somewhere else, because the talent is not the question.
He is still a Wales international, he still has that Liverpool senior debut goal on his CV, and he is still the son of former player Jason Koumas, so the footballing upbringing is obvious.
But development is about minutes, not nice footnotes.
Koumas stayed fit and featured regularly at Birmingham, but the loan did not work because he rarely started, and the modest output (one goal, limited shots and three big chances missed) never forced the situation to change.
Join our channel of readers on WhatsApp to get the day’s top stories straight to your mobile
The post Liverpool confirm loan return as question grows over what went wrong appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.