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LFC Reserves & Youth Team Goals/Highlights


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View: https://twitter.com/NeilMellor33/status/1762161426552987809

View: https://twitter.com/NeilMellor33/status/1762161637010674125
 
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Jayden Danns
Liverpool-born Danns, 18, found himself leading the line at Wembley having only made a brief senior debut off the bench against Luton Town four days earlier.

The son of former Crystal Palace and Bolton Wanderers midfielder Neil Danns, he is the academy’s leading scorer with 21 goals so far this season and has been on the books at Kirkby since the age of eight after being spotted playing futsal locally. Danns was sidelined for nearly a year due to knee pain caused by Osgood-Schlatter’s disease after rapidly growing from 5ft 2ins (157cm) to 6ft, but he has developed impressively over the course of this season and has filled out physically.

James McConnell
McConnell, 19, arrived from Sunderland at the age of 15 initially as an attacking midfielder, but Klopp and Pep Lijnders taught him the holding role last pre-season after Fabinho and Henderson left for Saudi Arabia.

He proved to be a fast learner and his leadership qualities were recognised when he was given the under-21s’ captaincy by coach Barry Lewtas.

Bobby Clark
Clark, who was signed from Newcastle United in 2021, was the subject of plenty of loan interest from Football League clubs in January but those approaches were rebuffed as Liverpool felt they needed to keep him on board as cover. Given the injuries that followed, it was a smart move for all parties.

The son of former Newcastle United midfielder Lee Clark has made seven of his nine senior appearances for Liverpool since the turn of the year and, on each occasion, he has stood out with his work both on and off the ball.


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So the best of our youngsters, other than Quansah and Danns, are not really from our Academy - we poached them from their clubs at 15-16, which clearly seems to be our new stragegy.
 
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So the best of our youngsters, other than Quansah and Danns, are not really from our Academy - we poached them from their clubs at 15-16, which clearly seems to be our new stragegy.
Similarly to when we found Sterling.

15-16 is the best time to snap them up because then you could be on the brink of the first team in a few years like we've seen with Baj and Doak and you're not waiting around for 5-6 years before you hear of them.
 
The experience in that final will be worth more than half a season in the youth. To go into such a high pressure match in front of 90,000 supporters in such a precarious situation in the match and to put in such key performances. You just can't normally test youth players like that. In terms of a test of character, as much as talent, those players will have grown, and Klopp's faith in them will have grown too. These boys aren't letting anyone down.
 
So the best of our youngsters, other than Quansah and Danns, are not really from our Academy - we poached them from their clubs at 15-16, which clearly seems to be our new stragegy.

As I understand it, academy players aged 13 - 16 years must live within 90 minutes travelling distance from the football club. For players younger than that, the travelling time is 1 hour. So the players available to Liverpool would be rather limited, as compared to the London clubs.

I too have an image of eight year old Messi kicking a ball around Kirkby like La Masia, but it's not realistic, and imho not very healthy for a child's mental well-being. 16 years old is still very young to be joining a football club.
 
As I understand it, academy players aged 13 - 16 years must live within 90 minutes travelling distance from the football club. For players younger than that, the travelling time is 1 hour. So the players available to Liverpool would be rather limited, as compared to the London clubs.

I too have an image of eight year old Messi kicking a ball around Kirkby like La Masia, but it's not realistic, and imho not very healthy for a child's mental well-being. 16 years old is still very young to be joining a football club.
I remember reading abt how many of the successful La Masia graduates joined at an older age:

Puyol, Busquets - 17
Arteta - 15
Thiago, Cucurella, Roberto - 14
 
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So the best of our youngsters, other than Quansah and Danns, are not really from our Academy - we poached them from their clubs at 15-16, which clearly seems to be our new stragegy.
Personally I'd dispute the term 'poached' otherwise every youngster that ever moves from one club to another has been 'poached'. These were players that we've taken on at a tender age and coached for 2-3 years at least. There is no guarantee at all they'd have 'made the grade', or progress they've shown, had they stayed where they were, especially if we've changed their position. Obviously debatable as that is something that can't be proven either way.
 
I remember reading abt how many of the successful La Masia graduates joined at an older age:

Puyol, Busquets - 17
Arteta - 15
Thiago, Cucurella, Roberto - 14
I have read a few articles regarding Spanish clubs youth teams and the amount of poaching amongst the big clubs ie Real and Athletico or Barca and Espanyol and it sounds crazy from what we are used in English football.
 
Former Liverpool academy graduate Steve McManaman has emerged as a key voice around the academy, with the Anfield legend and ex-Real Madrid star often acting as an advisory figure for youth coaches.

McManaman often attends youth matches, such as the FA Youth Cup match at Leeds last week, and gets involved with training sessions in Kirkby.

He deals regularly with the likes of Under 18s boss Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and youth analyst Scott Mason.


The TNT Sports pundit joins in with sessions with a hands-on approach - if he can still keep up with the players! - and offers advice and opinions to youth coaches on how to deal with the personal side of getting the best out of the up-and-coming starlets.
 
'No-one gets to see it' - Inside Trey Nyoni's Leicester City pathway, Liverpool exit and tribunal case

Liverpool's Carabao Cup win over Chelsea at Wembley Stadium made the headlines for a number of different reasons. Jurgen Klopp's farewell tour started in the best possible way but there was a sporadic Leicester City connection to their win.

Attacking midfielder Trey Nyoni was named on the Liverpool bench due to the injury crisis in Klopp's squad. The 2007-born ace wasn't used at Wembley but he did make his senior debut three days later in the FA Cup against Southampton.

Replacing Harvey Elliott in the 78th minute, the former Foxes academy star became the Reds' third youngest player in their history at 16 years and 243 days.

Nyoni joined Liverpool in the summer after progressing through the Leicester youth academy. However, the details over his move to Anfield are yet to be ironed out and is subject to a tribunal.

Recently, Chelsea were told at a Professional Football Compensation Committee (PFCC) hearing that they are required to pay Brighton up to £7.65million for teenagers Zak Sturge and Shumaira Mhueka - who they signed in 2022. The fee was split up into £1.9m up-front - £1m for Mhueka and £900k for Sturge - with the remaining coming from potential add-ons.


Liverpool have a history of snatching talent from other teams and seeing the deal go through tribunal. In 2019, they signed Elliott as a 16-year-old but could not agree on a compensation fee with Fulham. Nearly two years later it was confirmed that Fulham would receive a record fee for a 16-year-old (£4.3m) after a tribunal ruling.

A tribunal is sometimes needed to determine a fee when a player under the age of 24 leaves at the end of his contract and the two sides are unable to agree on compensation.
"If a young player leaves a team, especially if they sign the contract, and there's no agreement of a fee then tribunal is one way to solve it," football finance expert Kieran Maguire told LeicestershireLive.

"The two players (Mhueka and Struge) that left Brighton for Chelsea went through a tribunal. Brighton employed Nick de Marco, a famous sports lawyer, to act on their behalf and the outcome was to their satisfaction, resulting in a seven figure fee for one and a six figure for the other.

"It is a complex situation, there will be various claims made from both parties in regards to the relevant valuation of the players and then some form of compromise will be made."


On social media, Liverpool's posts of Nyoni's historic debut were flooded with responses from City supporters demanding them to pay the Foxes for the midfielder. Compensation for the wonderkid is yet to be decided and there is no clear indication when it will.

Former loan manager and academy coach at Leicester, Guy Branston, has provided an insight in the midfielder and his thoughts on the outcome of his case. "He was already playing up and being highlighted as a serious player," Branston told LeicestershireLive. "I was asked to work with the U13s and U12s, to work with the coaches, to give them an idea of what the next PDP (Player Development Plan) would look like as a coach, so I worked with his manager at the time.

"Stuart McClarty was asking me to work with him regarding what the potential stage would look like in a few more years for these boys. Trey was involved in that group over a period of time. You’re watching him train at the training ground and you’re getting wind that he’s a super talent. You’re watching him play up and he’s still flagging up. Then since I’ve left, he’s stepped into the U16s and U18s and then watched him around the England set-up as well."

“It leads to a tribunal because of discrepancies between an agreed price. They can’t agree on the price of a youngster. When you’re talking about a super-talent like that, the standard remits that you get guidance on within the Football League and Premier League are blown out of the water because the kid’s an uber talent."

Branston had a similar case during his time as Head of Recruitment at Notts County nine years ago. Liverpool came in for Jack Bearne, now at Greenock Morton in Scotland, when he was 14. “I worked with Liverpool in the past, they’d always be a really professional outfit in regards to waiting until the right time to speak to players and doing all the right things," Branston explained.

"We nearly took it to tribunal because we felt like the valuation of the player was different to what we felt of the player at the time. We also didn’t want to stop the player going to Liverpool because it was a great opportunity for him, but it was a totally different beast because we were little Notts County and they were mighty Liverpool.

"I think academy to academy, Liverpool and Leicester are very similar to what they do. Leicester probably top it with the talent that they produce on a regular basis. As a regular nine-year old-coming through the system and staying there until he becomes a first team player, Leicester are different class at that. That’s testament to the academy.”


He continued: "Leicester City’s one of the top clubs at producing talents, right? So when a club like Notts County, who I worked for, gets a call from Liverpool, it’s a great honour for one of your players in the academy.

"When I dealt with Liverpool it was very professional and knocking on the front door, which is how all clubs want to be dealt with. I imagine that Liverpool would have dealt with this deal that way and they would have knocked on the front door for Trey and tried to agree a price with the hierarchy with Leicester, who know what they’re doing.

“It’s all down to a club’s individual mentality. If they feel comfortable that he’s ready for his opportunity then there’s your chance. He’s an uber-talented kid, there’s no doubt about it, you can tell he’s uber-talented. This is a proper, proper player.

"If he’s highlighting and identifying to Klopp and Enzo [Maresca], he would have been involved in training because he can keep the ball unbelievably. The fact that Klopp is looking at it is probably what Enzo would have seen. It’s not a surprise [his senior debut so soon]. It’s part of the process that clubs need to take on protecting their assets.”


Nyoni's compensation package is expected to be confirmed by a tribunal, with Leicester hoping to receive a satisfactory outcome. “It’s inevitable that it will take its path, purely down to the fact that there’s two really good clubs in lock horn over a player that is really talented," Branston explained regarding the tribunal.

"Leicester will have a really high opinion of him because they know him incredibly well and Liverpool would have done their due diligence on him and will rightly want to get the best deal they possibly can.

"In my opinion, Leicester will win in this so-called ‘tug-of-war’ because they have the rights to win it. They know they have an asset at the football club who is a talented boy. They didn’t want to lose him but things happen, the right or wrong reason, it is what it is.

"Leicester will do the right thing to the boy and his family and Liverpool will do the same thing. The difficult thing with these deals is that it goes to tribunal for a reason and it could be the smallest reason and no-one gets to see it.

"It’s a legal discussion between two football clubs and they have to get an independent party to look at it and decide what goes. We are also talking about a real young boy, it’s an unbelievable thing that has happened to him. I hope it’s all sorted for him, quicker rather than later.”

The £4.3m Liverpool paid for Elliott and combined £7.25million Chelsea were forced to pay Brighton for Sturge and Mhueka could point to a similar fee that Leicester would expect. However, Branston has insisted it's impossible to compare the situations.

“It’s very difficult because it’s a different player. He might bring more to a team because of his background and he might get better opportunities at Liverpool. It’s alright saying he’s been involved in the cup final and the FA Cup, but anything could go wrong or right for him," he said.

"Every move has its flaws and positives. My opinion is you’ve got to find what he’s going to bring for the club going forward. For Leicester, he would have easily made an appearance in the Championship and in the Premier League, if he carried on his current projection. What value do you see in a kid from a Championship player at 16? Bundles, absolute bundles.

"Then you look at the Brighton deals, again incredibly difficult to do a pricing on this, you look at them two, you’re gonna pay £7.25m with add-ons? There’ll be loads of add-ons in the long list of extras, but they’ll be sell-ons, appearances and international appearances. The clubs know that. When you price him up, he’ll be well above the price individually that they’re [Brighton] are pricing them two at. He’s quite frankly a better player. I’m confident to say that.

“If Liverpool were avoiding paying anything, they wouldn’t be putting him on the pitch because it would cost them too much money. They’re not avoiding paying. They’re just having a bit of time to digest the script that Leicester wants from the tribunal and they want to get a fair deal. Leicester will give them a fair deal if they get their feelings correctly taken on board.”
 
Harvey Elliott, Jarell Quansah and Tyler Morton – who is out on loan with Hull City – will link up with the Young Lions for a pair of U21 European Championship qualifiers.
England travel to Azerbaijan on March 22 and then host Luxembourg in Bolton on March 26.

A trio of Reds also feature in England’s Elite League squad (formerly U20s) for March’s internationals. Bobby Clark, Kaide Gordon and Luke Chambers – who is currently at Wigan Athletic on loan – will be with the group for games in Poland (March 22) and Czechia (March 26).
At U18 level, meanwhile, Amara Nallo, Trey Nyoni and Jayden Danns have received call-ups.
England will compete at the U18 Pinatar Super Cup, facing Czechia (March 20), Germany (March 22) and the Netherlands (March 25)
 
Liverpool youngster Lewis Koumas says he is aiming to impress Rob Page to earn a senior Wales call-up.

The 18-year-old scored on his Under-21 debut as Matty Jones' Wales side beat Lithuania to top qualifying Group I.

He said he was inspired by Page's senior squad after sharing a training camp in the build up to their Euro 2024 play-off win over Finland.

"It's really motivated me to see if I can try and get myself in and around the senior squad," said Koumas.

"That's what I came here to do - to try and leave an impression and hopefully Rob Page can see that."

Page was in the stands at Rodney Parade to see Koumas' superb first time finish
from the edge of the area just 11 minutes after coming off the bench for his first cap at this level.

It came just weeks after notching his first goal in his first senior appearance for Liverpool in the FA Cup win over Southampton, having been part of Jurgen Klopp's squad for the Carabao Cup final victory over Chelsea days earlier.

"It's been a great period for me, a crazy journey but a lot of positives to take from it," he told BBC Sport Wales.

"It's only the start and I have to keep my head down, keep training, keep a smile on my face and see where it takes me."


He hopes that includes a senior international career with Wales, noting the succession of young talent promoted to the Wales set-up, including Birmingham City's 19-year-old midfielder Jordan James who started in Thursday's 4-1 play-off semi-final win over Finland.

With James admitting he had not anticipated being one win away from potentially appearing at a major championships, Koumas said: "It shows anything can happen and you have to be ready at any time so if you are called upon you take your chance.

"I've put the Welsh shirt on a couple of times now but this was really good, and being around the seniors this week has been motivating me and driving me even more to go and do what I did.

"Just coming on the pitch for Wales was a great feeling but to help them in a game like that and score the winner was a great feeling and hopefully I've shown what I can do."


Born in Chester, Koumas qualifies for Wales via his father, the mercurial 34-cap international Jason Koumas.

"I think he would have been proud of the finish because he was a great finisher, but I train to do what I was able to do tonight," said Koumas, who had been reportedly previously targeted by England before winning two Wales Under-19 caps last year.

"He doesn't really talk about his side of things, he just keeps it on me and focusses on me."
 
Promising signs from the next generation

A theme of 2024 at Liverpool has been sons of famous footballers making their name at Anfield and the latest in that trend appears to be Djibril Cisse’s lad, Prince Kobe, who played for the Under 18s this weekend.

Cisse Jr featured as the youngsters defeated ISI Academy with a brace from Joe Bradshaw to go alongside a goal from Cody Pennington.
Prince’s father Djibril scored in front of the Kop as part of the Liverpool Legends match.

His other son, Cassius Clay Cisse, is on the books of League Two outfit Notts County after spending some time at prestigious youth academy Crewe Alexandra. He has played for Wales youth teams given his mother, Jude Littler, was from there.

Meanwhile, Liverpool youngster Kyle Kelly played twice for St Kitts and Nevis in two games against San Marino this week. The 18-year-old midfielder has been impressing at Kirkby and played for the Under 21s recently.
 
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