Liverpool are fortunate to have talent in abundance in their academy. Jordan Williams and Jordan Rossiter made their senior debuts while Jerome Sinclair featured towards the end of the season.
The likes of Sheyi Ojo, Harry Wilson, Ryan Kent and Cameron Brannagan are progressing promisingly by playing regularly for the Liverpool Under-21s.
In this piece I take a look at some upcoming names in the Liverpool Under-18s squad.
Yan Dhanda
Dhanda is a skilful attacking midfielder. He featured prominently for the Under-16s last season but he did make a handful of appearance for the Under-18s too.
Liverpool signed the player from West Bromwich Albion last summer. He is extremely highly-rated in the academy and his Indian heritage could mean that he’ll become the first player from India to play for Liverpool.
His nimble footed approach to the game is easy on the eye and also possesses the ability to unlock stubborn defences.
In an interview with Bleacher Report, he talked about his ambitions for the future: “I would like to play like Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling. I like their playing style.”
Adam Phillips
Many may remember Brendan Rodgers taking Adam Phillips with him for the summer tour of America. He was just 16-years-old then but Rodgers saw something in him.
Phillips is also an England Under-16 international and rose to internet prominence with a fantastic last-minute free kick against Brazil.
He has featured for the Under-16s, 18s, and 21s. The versatile midfielder has a fantastic range of passing and a brilliant shot on him; always volunteering to take set pieces and often hitting the target.
Trent Arnold
‘Liverpool Twitter’ was left baffled one night when an unknown youngster featured in the senior team’s training photos at the Bernabéu. It was Trent Arnold.
The highly-rated right-back was given the opportunity to train with the likes of Steven Gerrard and Raheem Sterling that night.
He is a player that loves to attack but remembers that his primary job is to defend. He recently captained the England Under-16s side.
Conor Masterson
According to the Belfast Telegraph, Liverpool signed this centre-back for €1 million (!). Masterson made his debut for the Under-18s in February with a commanding display against Sunderland and contributed to a clean sheet.
A month later, he was given the Under-16 International Player of the Year by the Football Association of Ireland. Rodgers was the man to present the trophy to him.
Upon receiving the award, he said: “It’s such a great honour to receive this award and it was fantastic for it to be presented to me by the manager.”
