Liverpool eyeing raid for gem who took Premier League record off current Reds player this season

Empire of the Kop

·23 March 2023

Liverpool eyeing raid for gem who took Premier League record off current Reds player this season

Liverpool are reportedly among several English clubs eyeing a potential swoop for teenage gem Ethan Nwaneri.

The Arsenal prospect made Premier League history earlier this season when he appeared off the bench in their 3-0 win at Brentford, becoming the youngest player ever to appear in the division at the age of 15 years and 181 days (via talkSPORT).

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He took that record from a current member of Jurgen Klopp’s squad, with Harvey Elliott having previously held the accolade when he featured for Fulham towards the end of the 2018/19 season just 30 days after his 16th birthday.

However, despite Mikel Arteta giving him that noteworthy substitute appearance, Nwaneri’s future in north London seems far from assured.

Speaking on The Gooner Talk YouTube channel, football.london journalist Tom Canton said: “We still don’t know if the youngster will be committing his future to Arsenal.

“Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and a number of other clubs are all interested in the youngster, who became the youngest Premier League player ever against Brentford in that game earlier this season.

“Arsenal have done everything they can to try and keep Ethan Nwaneri at the club by giving him opportunities.

“Arsenal have done everything but if there are better offers from elsewhere, there is very little Arsenal can do, and they can only hope he’ll keep faith in the team that have given him these opportunities and development throughout his younger years.”

Nwaneri hasn’t featured for the Gunners’ first team since that token runout in stoppage time at Brentford six months ago, although he’s made an impression at under-18 level, with seven goals and five assists in 18 appearances in that age category (Transfermarkt).

He only turned 16 on Tuesday, so if Liverpool were to sign him, it’d very much be with an eye on the long-term, with the probability that he’d further his development in the Reds’ academy ranks before breaking into Klopp’s thinking.

However, he could use the player whose Premier League record he usurped as a role model to follow if he does swap north London for Merseyside.

Elliott was slowly blooded into the first team at Anfield, being handed a few domestic cup appearances as a 16-year-old in his first season at the club in 2019/20 and, like Nwaneri, getting a morsel of top-flight action off the bench as a late substitute against Sheffield United midway through the campaign.

The current Reds ace has since gone on to feature 60 times under Klopp before his 20th birthday, with 40 of those coming during the current campaign, a tally which means he’s played in more matches than anyone else for Liverpool in 2022/23 (Transfermarkt).

His development seems to have been handled brilliantly by the German, and indeed the underage coaching staff at the club, duly creating a perfect template which could followed if they bring in the history-making Arsenal starlet.

You can see Canton’s update on Nwaneri below from 4:16 (via The Gooner Talk on YouTube):

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