Liverpool wonderkid set for GOLDEN pre-season chance | OneFootball

Pre-season will present the perfect opportunity for one Liverpool youngster to showcase his quality.

At this moment in time the Reds are entering an exciting period. It feels like the Arne Slot era is about commence with Richard Hughes bringing in a host of new faces this summer.

So far, Giorgi Mamardashvili, Jeremie Frimpong and Armin Pecsi are all expected to be the 'new kids on the block' come pre-season. They are probably not going to be the only ones.

Florian Wirtz and Milos Kerkez will likely follow suit, meaning there are going to be a lot of introductions come July 7th when the Reds begin their preparations for the new season.

One area where Liverpool are unlikely to have strengthened by that point is the no.9 position. Hughes very much still wants to reinforce that role but at this moment in time Liverpool know they need to find suitors for Darwin Nunez and potentially Diogo Jota before they can enter the market again.

It remains to be seen how long that will take but with the uncertainty around those moves, there's a golden chance for some of Liverpool's younger forwards to put their names in the hat in pre-season and take advantage of the void in the squad at the moment.

Jayden Danns comes to mind, who has already scored under Slot in the first team but who needs to overcome his injury niggles.

Another is Joshua Sonni-Lambie, who could be the perfect profile to play in Slot's system in the future and who has a chance to impress him this summer.

Sonni-Lambie is very much in the mould of Roberto Firmino, in the sense that as a no.9 he can both be a goal-scorer and a facilitator as well.

A technically sound player, Sonni-Lambie can play with his back to goal and he can also take players on in tight spaces. He's good at finding openings inside the box and he will put in a lot of the hard-work off the ball as well.

He'll drop back to win possession and link-up with his teammates. But his best qualities are his technical foundations, having grown up playing street football in London and playing at grassroots level before being spotted as a 14-year-old by the Reds.

Last season in the U18 Premier League he averaged over four dribblers per 90 and completed over 56% of his attempts - a very decent return.

On and off the ball, he's got that gritty drive and determination that characterised Firmino. Sonni-Lambie will fight for loose balls and he'll make himself a nuisance to defenders.

Essentially, the 17-year-old is a proper modern day forward. He works his socks off out of possession and he's excellent in his link-up play with an eye for a goal as well.

Overall, he had 17 goal contributions in 29 matches for Liverpool's U18 side in all competitions last season, which is an impressive output considering the Reds' poor form.

With still room to grow and develop physically, Sonni-Lambie's technical qualities make him ready to be given a chance at a higher level.

As Slot searches for his perfect no.9 option, Sonni-Lambie will have a golden chance to prove himself in front of the Liverpool head-coach.

The expectation is very much that he'll be part of the Dutchman's pre-season plans and it's an opportunity Sonni-Lambie will be hoping to seize.