Liverpool – Stand Out u21s
What I will do in this review, is a more detailed assessment of the u21 players I think will break into the first team squad (or are already there) . Then for some of the others who still have a lot to prove, I’ll keep it a bit more brief.
Armin Pecsi – GK (20)
Liverpool have gone out this summer and signed one of the best young keepers in world football.
Nominated last season for the Golden Boy award, he already has 70 senior appearances in his native Hungary. At 1.90m he has a real presence.
Arne Slot gave him a few chances in pre-season and he looked extremely accomplished with his feet, made a superb save in a one-on-one scenario and generally looked like a good shot stopper.
Kornel Misciur – GK (17)
Very highly rated. Misciur joined the first team for the early stages of pre-season. He didn’t get on the pitch but seems to be on Slot’s radar.
Isaac Mabaya – RB (20)
Mabaya made his first team debut last season in the League Cup in the 1-0 defeat to Plymouth Argyle. He will have to improve rapidly to have any kind of future at Liverpool. Connor Bradley and Jeremie Frimpong are not much older.
Giovanni Leoni – CB (18)
Another summer signing and possibly the most exciting young player at the club now. Leoni leaving Parma for Liverpool has led to outrage in Italy. The media are fuming that arguably the brightest young talent in Italian football has chosen to go abroad. So much so they’re questioning everything about the way the Serie A is being run.
Leoni is an absolute giant for his age. He made his senior debut at 16 years old in tier 3 of Italian football and has pretty much earned a move up a level every year since. At 1.96m tall, Leoni is aerially dominant, but combines this with deceptive speed.
It’d be easy to think he stands out for his age just because of his physical advantages, but he’s also a very good player with the ball, on top of already being big enough to bully experienced Serie A strikers such as Romelu Lukaku.
I’m extremely excited about Leoni. I think he could have a similar career trajectory to Dean Huijsen. He is allegedly seen as the long term successor to Virgil van Dijk.
Wellity Lucky – CB (19)
Lucky is a solid defender and another who was involved in the early part of pre-season. He’ll likely have a good career in football but I’m not convinced it will be at Anfield.
Amaro Nallo – CB (18)
Another centre back, Nallo was signed at 16 from West Ham United with very high hopes. At 1.86m some might say he’s slightly short for a central defender, but he is still very good in the air.
He made his first team debut last season off the bench against PSV Eindhoven in a Champions League Group stage dead rubber. Unfortunately he got a straight red card after just 4 minutes for misjudging a clearance and volleying an opposition forward clean in the crotch!
Much is expected of Nallo internally at the club. He’ll likely stay with the u21’s next season but could see some senior minutes in the early rounds of the domestic cups.
Milos Kerkez – LB (21)
In my opinion, this is an absolutely brilliant coup for Liverpool. It will probably shock a few people to see him on this list, but unbelievably Kerkez is still just 21 years old. He’s just been in men’s football for so long though, it’s surprising he makes this list.
Kerkez has an incredible future ahead of him. For me, he’s already the joint best left back in the Premier League (along with Antonee Robinson of Fulham) .
Kerkez is an attack minded player but he’s also a very aggressive defender who won’t shy out of a tackle. At 1.80m tall he should be better in the air than he is. So that is something the club should work on. Other than that, he just needs to learn when to calm down.
Kerkez will probably be the Liverpool left back for the next 8-10 years and don’t be surprised to see him get very close to 500 appearances for the club because he is extremely robust.
Luke Chambers – LB/ CB (21)
chambers is a throwback defender. Not often do you see a full back nowadays who is a defender first and an attacker second. He could be an interesting alternative to Kerkez long term when Andy Robertson eventually leaves the club.
Calum Scanlon – LB (20)
Absolutely rapid. I can’t see a future for him at Liverpool sadly, but his blistering pace will likely see him succeed at a fairly decent level. Injuries are an issue though.
Trey Nyoni – CM (18)
What an incredibly clever signing this is looking like from the club. Nyoni joined from Leicester City at 16 years old with huge expectations. Although he initially struggled physically in his first pre-season experience, he’s finally started adapting to the rigours of senior football. He’s not short at 1.80m tall, but he’s very slight of build.
Nyoni yet again stood out in the latest pre-season, even playing in the heart of defence in one game due to Joe Gomez being out injured. His decision making on the ball and reading of the game without the ball are beyond his years.
I really think he is the best u21 midfielder at the club, and it’s probably not even close.
Stefan Bajcetic – CM/ CB (20)
I’m increasingly gutted about Bajcetic. When he burst onto the scene alongside Thiago Alcantara in midfield, he looked like a real breath of fresh air. At 1.85m tall he can even play in central defence.
Sadly, his poor attitude seems to be holding him back. He has been called out repeatedly for being late to training and he now seems to be picking up injuries, which you have to question whether they’re linked to poor application.
I still think Bajcetic can have a very good career, and the bridge isn’t totally burned at Liverpool either. However I anticipate he’ll eventually move on and succeed elsewhere. I get Luis Alberto vibes. One day he may even be considered as one who got away.
James McConnell – CM (21)
McConnell is very highly rated by both Jurgen Klopp and his successor, Slot. He was part of that incredible victory over Chelsea at Wembley in the League Cup final, where Liverpool had half of their u21 team on the pitch by full time.
Since Slot came in, McConnell had continued to progress well making several appearances in the domestic cups. He’s the closest thing at the club to Ryan Gravenberch. He loves taking the ball under pressure, and is very press resistant.
He also has a very nice passing range. I can see a future at Liverpool for McConnell if he can bounce back from his injury. Some reports suggest his injury issues could be linked to a massive growth spurt. It’s unconfirmed, but some stat sites have it down that he’s grown by 13cm in a year and now stands at 1.88m tall.
Alvin Ayman – CM (17)
We’ve not seen much of Ayman yet, but he signed from Wolverhampton Wanderers last summer as an extremely highly rated young player. We might see him next pre-season.
Rio Ngumoha – LW (16)
Star boy. Rio looks a really special talent and Chelsea actually banned our scouts from their academy grounds, such was their anger at Liverpool picking him up a year ago.
At 1.70m, Rio has a useful low centre of gravity. He is still growing and hopefully it doesn’t impact his playing style as he gets taller.
His ball carrying is so direct and fast that players just don’t want to touch him. In pre-season he gave Fikayo Tomori (a seasoned international defender) an absolutely torrid time in the 4-2 defeat against AC Milan.
He then scored a wonder goal against Athletic Bilbao later in pre-season, just minutes after kick off. Rio is brilliant. We’ve not seen a forward player this talented in the academy since Raheem Sterling was signed from Queens Park Rangers at 15 years old.
Trent Kone-Doherty – LW (19)
At any other point in the last 10 years he might have had a decent chance at breaking into the team. Unfortunately for him, Rio is just streets ahead. The young Irishman could easily have a Premier League career though.
Kaide Gordon – RW (20)
Gordon was signed from Derby County at 16 years old for over one million pounds, but has failed to live up to the hype. I think he’s too weak for the Premier League and will likely end up in League 1 or a bottom feeder in the Championship.
Lewis Koumas – AM (19)
Son of Wales legend, Jason Koumas, he is a really versatile and talented player. Koumas Jr can play anywhere across or behind a front three.
He spent last season on loan at Stoke City, and intitially he fast became a fan favourite. Finishing the season with around 2,500 minutes of game time (as well as 6 goals and 3 assists) there is a lot of promise with Koumas.
He’ll likely go on loan again this season with Championship promotion hopefuls Birmingham City supposedly close to a deal. Koumas has a big future in football. He is a very robust and adept ball carrier who bounces off of challenges and commits defenders into challenges they don’t want to make. He’s quite a big lad at 1.82m tall and defenders struggle to stop him when he gets going. Honestly, he reminds me of a young Jack Grealish.
Jayden Danns – CF (19)
Another son of a famous footballer, Jayden is son of Neil Danns. The Scouse family must have talent in their genes!
Danns Jr is a very good striker, comfortable on both feet and capable in the air as well. The only thing that will stop him having a Premier League career are injuries. He missed the entire second half of last season, making no appearances on loan for Sunderland.
He I s a big target man at 1.83m tall, and he loves battling the hold up the ball, but will also win a flick on or chase hopeful passes into the channels. If he can stay fit, he’ll have half a chance at making it at Liverpool.
Will Wright – CF (17)
Not much is known of Wright, who was recently signed from Salford City. He was being chased by Arsenal as well though so the scouts saw something. Came on in pre-season to make a cameo and his movement and work rate look decent.
Keyrol Figueroa – CF (18)
The last player on the list, and yet another son of a famous footballer. Some of you may remember his father Maynor Figueroa who played LB for Wigan Athletic and scored a screamer from the half way line. Figueroa Jr is very highly rated and should break into the u21 team this season.
Thank you for the request markp08. Hope you found this interesting.