The year is 2050.

The name Divock is the most popular name on Merseyside, Liverpool are parading their latest Premier League trophy down Origi Avenue and there's a new, 30-metre tall statue at Anfield.

Ok, sure, we can't exactly see things going that far, but you can forgive Liverpool fans for eulogising about Divock Origi for his remarkable antics over the last 12 months. Oh, and we'll come back to the statue.

It looked as though Origi's Liverpool career was on the rocks halfway through last season, but a dramatic winner in the Merseyside Derby effectively prolonged his stay with the Reds.

And that unforgettable moment was proceeded by a series of others, including a winner against Newcastle United and two goals in the historic comeback versus Barcelona.

Origi's string of crucial goals

Origi then elevated himself near legendary status with a goal in the Champions League final and most recently, the Belgian scored two dramatic equalisers in the 5-5 draw with Arsenal.

The amount of crucial goals that Origi is scoring is starting to become uncanny and as a result, he has been elevated to something of a cult hero on Merseyside.

There are regular, tongue-in-cheek proclamations of Origi as the GOAT (greatest of all-time) and we can't get enough of the brilliant 'Football is nothing without Origi' meme.

Petitions for an Origi statue

But let's cast our minds back to that hypothetical statue. Seriously.

Over the course of 2019, two petitions have emerged on Change.org campaigning for Origi to be immortalised in bronze outside of Anfield - and they're still attracting signatures. 

The most popular petition, originally created after the Barcelona comeback, has experienced a new spike in awareness and has almost reached its target of 500 backers.

And it's smaller counterpart is slowly ticking towards three figures with its proud declaration: "He's the GOAT, he deserves one for the match saving goals he's got."

However, and we really hate to break the bad news, it's simply never going to happen. Shocking, we know. 

Even if one million Liverpool fans passionately campaigned at the gates of Anfield, we're not sure it would persuade the club to bestow the honour given to the great Bill Shankly on Origi.

But that shouldn't take away from Origi's uncanny knack to score vital match-saving goals and it's heart-warming to see Liverpool fans showing love for his plucky performances.

It goes to show that a footballer can go from struggling to make the bench to being universally loved by fans in the space of a year. Fair play, Divock.