Jerome Sinclair: Where is Liverpool's youngest ever player now? | OneFootball

Jerome Sinclair, Liverpool’s youngest ever player, is without a club at the age of 26 and is the owner of a fried chicken shop.

At the age of 16 years and six days, Sinclair became Liverpool’s youngest ever player when he appeared for the club against West Brom in a League Cup tie back in September 2012.

“A dream come true,” Sinclair said afterwards.

Current Liverpool boss, Brendan Rodgers, said: “Now the hard work begins for Jerome. It’s no good being the youngest player and then drifting out of it. Thankfully, he’s a good kid and he’s really focused. That hunger to learn can take you a long way.”

Sinclair had actually spent much of his youth career at West Brom before Liverpool snapped him up.

“All the top clubs wanted Jerome, and we were delighted that we were able to get him when he was 14,” Frank McParland, who was Liverpool’s academy director at the time, said.

More than 10 years later, Sinclair is still Liverpool’s youngest ever player.

What has happened to Jerome Sinclair?

But his story is one of unfilled potential.

He only played four more times for club – two of them under current manager, Jurgen Klopp. In fact, he has a first-team goal under his belt having scored for Liverpool against Exeter City in the FA Cup.

He made his Premier League debut away to Chelsea at the end of the 2014/15 season, before appearing in Steven Gerrard’s final appearance at Anfield against Crystal Palace.

And Sinclair has previously thanked Gerrard for putting him under his wing – and allowing him to play with his idol, Thierry Henry.

“There were some huge names in that dressing room, like (Luis) Suarez and (Philippe) Coutinho but Gerrard was the best — there would be moments in training when he’d do something with the ball and people would just stop and clap,” Sinclair said in 2020.

“Gerrard was very good with me and made me feel involved. He asked me to play in his all-star charity game against Jamie Carragher’s team. I started in a front three with Thierry Henry and Ryan Babel. I can never thank him enough for giving me the opportunity to meet my idol.”

It looked as though Sinclair would have a long and successful career at Anfield but it ended unceremoniously.

He teamed up with Aidy Ward – the agent responsible for Raheem Sterling’s exit from Liverpool – and Sinclair turned down a contract offer from Liverpool despite his young age.

“What we try to do is create a situation where younger players know it is not important to get the highest wages in your life in the first year of your career,” Klopp responded with

“I like Jerome, he is a real talent and if he wants to stay with us no problem. If not, we cannot force it.”

He would leave Liverpool for Watford in January 2016 and his career wouldn’t recover.

He failed to kick on at Vicarage Road and only made a handful of appearances before loan spells at various clubs in England (Sunderland, Birmingham and Oxford) as well as at VVV-Venlo in the Netherlands and CSKA Sofia in Russia.

He was eventually released from his Watford contract in 2021 and hasn’t found a new club since, despite being just 26-years-old.

Sinclair is the owner of a fried chicken shop

So, what is he up to now?

Sinclair is now the owner of a Morley’s shop – a chain of fried chicken takeaways.

Last July, Morley’s tweeted: “Welcome to the Morley’s family Jerome Sinclair.”

They confirmed to the Athletic it was, indeed, that Jerome Sinclair and that he was the current owner of its Birmingham franchise.

It’s unknown whether he will return to football.

Karl Robinson, who managed Sinclair at Oxford, wished him the best of luck with his business venture.

“I know he’s based in Birmingham and he’s got a good business head on him. He’s got interests outside of football. I just want him to be happy. If that’s playing football again or not, as long as he’s happy, that’s all that matters.”

(The Football Terrace)