they say when one door closes another opens but in football sometimes when the door closes it means the end of a dream the end of a journey and the start of a lonely road full of questions full of memories and full of silence tyler morton knows this silence he knows the feeling of watching from the sidelines of training every day giving your all but still not being the one called on when it matters the most he knows what it feels like to carry the red shirt in your heart but not on your back during matchdays he knows the weight of dreams that don’t come true but still he kept smiling still he trained still he hoped
it started like every fairytale starts a boy from the academy breaking into the big team playing under the lights of anfield hearing the roar of the kop seeing the legends in the tunnel but soon real life began to mix with the dream he was loaned out once then again not because he was not good enough but because there were just too many ahead of him midfield at liverpool is a war zone it’s filled with giants names and talents and experience and millions spent and morton had to wait wait and watch and wait some more
they said he would get his chance they said stay and fight and he did they said just one injury and you’re next and he believed they said this loan is good for your development and he nodded but now after all the waiting and hoping and dreaming the story has come to a quiet end no drama no press conference no standing ovation just a private jet just a seat booked on a monday afternoon just a goodbye not even spoken out loud just silence
tyler morton will leave liverpool he will leave for lyon in france he will leave the club he gave his heart to for eight point seven million pounds he will go alone no crowd no flags just luggage and maybe a tear or two and all of this after five years of believing maybe he could be the one maybe he could be the next great story maybe his name would be sung one day at anfield
he made fourteen senior appearances he wore the shirt he trained with salah he learned from henderson he watched klopp in meetings he gave everything and still it was not enough but how can you blame him how can you say he failed how can you call it anything but painful he was a soldier waiting to be sent to war but was never deployed he was the shadow of the squad the one always ready never chosen
liverpool fans may not notice it they may not remember the day he leaves there won’t be a thank you post from the main account maybe not even a goodbye video but the boy is leaving and this is no small thing this is huge for him this is a new country a new league a new language a new everything all because his club did not have room for one more midfielder all because football is not fair it never is
he was linked to west ham they didn’t come through he was linked to bayer leverkusen they didn’t meet the price he was wanted by middlesbrough but liverpool said no not yet maybe later and now it’s lyon and now the deal is done and now the private jet is ready and he will sit in that seat and look out the window and maybe remember his first training day at melwood maybe remember his first shirt maybe remember the feeling of walking into the stadium thinking this is where i belong but football doesn’t care about feelings
arne slot praised him said he was quality said he could play anywhere said he had the talent but words don’t change squads words don’t give you minutes words don’t fill your boots with grass from anfield on matchday words are just words and morton had to face the truth he was not part of the plan not now not tomorrow and probably never
they said he was kept as cover that liverpool needed him just in case but that case never came he watched new signings arrive florian wirtz jeremie frimpong milos kerkez he saw names added to the list ahead of him he saw bajcetic sent on loan he saw ben doak leave too and still he stayed still he waited and now the waiting is over now he moves on
eight point seven million pounds that’s what lyon will pay that’s the value of five years of blood sweat and patience that’s the price of a boy who dreamed of being a man in red but will now wear white and blue in france that’s the cost of a journey that never reached its destination
and what about the fans what do they say maybe nothing maybe they don’t even know maybe they’re too busy watching the new signings maybe they’re thinking of isak maybe they’re arguing about nunez maybe they’re waiting for another big name maybe they don’t realise a story is ending today
and morton will pack his bags he will shake hands with a few he will hug the ones who believed he will walk past the walls filled with legends he will step into the car that takes him to the plane and maybe just maybe he will cry just a little not because he failed but because he tried and that’s what hurts the most trying and still not being enough
they say lyon is a fresh start they say the french league will suit him they say he can be a star there they say this is what he needs maybe they’re right maybe this is the beginning of something great maybe this is the place where he becomes more than a squad player maybe he finds a home where he is loved not loaned maybe he becomes more than a name on a list maybe he becomes someone’s captain maybe he becomes their star
but right now he is just a boy on a jet a boy leaving home a boy saying goodbye in silence a boy who gave his youth to liverpool and now gets a ticket out not a trophy not applause just a contract and a flight
this is football this is the truth behind the smiles this is what happens when you’re not the chosen one this is what happens when you’re good but not good enough for here this is what happens when dreams are put on hold until they fade away
and one day maybe he’ll come back maybe he’ll play at anfield again maybe he’ll walk onto that pitch as a lyon player and hear a few claps maybe someone will remember maybe someone will say that’s the boy who almost made it that’s the boy who left quietly maybe someone will cheer maybe he will score and look up to the sky and whisper i was here once i was part of this
but until then tyler morton is gone he’s leaving on monday he’s taking the flight and he won’t look back not because he doesn’t love liverpool but because love sometimes means letting go sometimes it means walking away when there’s no space for you anymore sometimes it means choosing yourself over a bench sometimes it means knowing when it’s over so goodbye tyler morton not with banners not with chants just with words written in a quiet corner of the internet goodbye to a boy who believed goodbye to a dreamer goodbye to a red who didn’t get his day but gave us his years
football is cruel but it also gives second chances and maybe this is yours maybe lyon is the place where you rise where you shine where you become the player you were meant to be maybe one day we will see your name in the headlines not for leaving but for leading not for what you couldn’t do at liverpool but for what you did somewhere else
