Luca Stephenson’s season ended the same way the last one did, and wherever he finds himself in 2026-27, he’ll at least be playing with a preferred position in mind.A hamstring injury suffered in training ahead of Dundee United’s April 11 match against Livingston in the Scottish Premiership curtailed the 22-year-old’s campaign as scans and opinions from specialists revealed that the damage was worse than first feared. Rewind 12 months and it was also curtains for Stephenson’s 2024-25 in mid-April when, in the first of two consecutive season-long loan spells at Tannadice, he underwent surgery for the double hernia he had been playing with for four months.Sitting in the media room at Liverpool’s training ground and speaking to The Athletic during the closing weeks of the season, the disappointment of how that second loan has finished is plain to see, but this is also a chance for the versatile defender to reflect on the 67 appearances he made for United across those two seasons.It is rare for players to spend back-to-back seasons on loan at the same club, but Stephenson’s impact in Dundee has seen him become a fan favourite and part of the furniture there, and his experiences in Scottish football have helped firm up the position he favours most on the pitch after a nascent career spent never filling the same role for too long.