Not all of them have to be starters at top 6 for academy to be doing well, no? I’d be over the moon if academy produced a competent left back to alternate with Kerkez, for example, and/or a winger who would be able to hit Jones’ current level of ability and development here.
Once in a while, there will be someone like Stevie or even TAA (which I’m kind of envious of when it comes to Arsenal’s current squad) but those are extreme cases that are not frequent at top 6 clubs.
Ok then…
Foden, who else?
I have said that Palmer’s example is not a good one, not speaking in general. Who else has done as well as Foden up to this point? And since when? I guess you mean in the last 10 years. Nobody. But other players got chances and either remained for a while or are still there like Diaz, Garcia, Lewis, McAtee, O’Reilly, etc.
Problem is it’s not worse than us and the point was that he would get more chance there and I’m not really seeing it.
Foden is a first team regular, so he has broken through but very few others have, no more than say Trey Nyoni or Rio.
And dare I point out that Foden isn’t really starter at the moment?
And that’s saying what exactly? 355 games, 110 goals, 66 assists and 15 major trophies. By the age of 25/26.
Palmer is not suited to Pep’s game. And after a very over performance in his first year in Chelsea, I think he has dropped off a lot already. I wouldn’t be surprised if he keeps fading over the next few years.
the point i was making with City ( i know it wasnt one you were debating) is that City holds a different allure
massive contracts (easy to dismiss as greedy, but theres no garuntee in football so offering life changing money to a 16 year old from a working class family has to be thought through )
worlds best facilities
a willingness to let players go
the point that Palmer, Rogers, Delap and a host of others have moved on and flourished is something a kid would be bound to look at… i know citys on the nose, but as a finishing school for youngsters, its pretty prolific…even if they dont have another academy player put on their shirt for the next five years it still wouldnt be a deterent, they have a track record of producing talent
just to qualify though…
im talking about young players with the oppurtunity to pick. as in industry best talents
a 15/16 year old looking at his first pro contract, with the pick of the academies, and what each academy offers him personally…every situation would be different…
right now itd be hard to turn down Man City though, given what they have been producing and then willing to let go…
the angle Liverpool had was prgression to the first team, which is looking less and less likely under the Slot regime…which will have its own knock on affects.
disagree.
it is a good example.
i didnt say there is no allure to signing on here, i just said one of the things we offered under Klopp is squad progression, which is currently looking a lot less likely. add in the fact we have two WC central strikers and its still up in the air how they both fit in, plus Gakpo and Mo would probably be trusted centrally before a youth prospect…
again, if i was an elite striker at youth level - an elite one - id look at the academies, look at the track records, and look at how far away i am realistically from 1st team football
Man City would have to be a destination of choice right now, as much as that hurts, Liverpools academy would be superior to Brightons you would imagine, but if i can get a game at Brighton, then i probably wouldnt sign on at LFC
I don’t know how we currently stand in the industry behind the scenes as I am a fan and can only speculate, but I guess we are pretty attractive in modern times (and that it didn’t change much over night from Klopp to Slot). Among the top of football’s food chain.
Even with the questions we have up top, although I wouldn’t class Ekitike as world class yet, but I had major doubts how all the moves we made last summer would look like on the pitch. That’s much less of a question for today’s potential 16-17 year-old kid we might bring.
That doesn’t mean we’ll manage to bring or keep everyone we’d like to, but we obviously are managing to bring and keep talents in different age groups compared to what we had/have in the first team. It’s a valid debate whether Ngumoha is ready to compete here or will need a step in between before.
When you get shouts like “it’s a shame Jayden Danns (who is 20 and I’d say most of us would agree he’s not an elite talent) isn’t fit”, that also tells you something.
It’s alright, you might make that choice, but I think much more would opt for Liverpool over Brighton than you think. I’m interested to see how their adventure with two young Greek strikers turn out, together with the senior ones they have already.
It’s a baby Ekitike & Isak situation.
Morrison is reaching the level now that U21 football is starting to look too easy. Hopefully he gets more time in 1st team training as the season goes on.
Looks a very adept player but lacks the speed for the wing, will he transition into a midfielder, similar to Jones?
I think he is remarkably similar to Jones, yes. Could see him moving centrally at the first team level.
Edit
Oakley Cannionier.
“I will leave at the end of the season and am just looking for regular games. With my age, that is all I want to be doing,” he tells The Athletic. “The last 18 months have been really difficult with no games to look forward to. You train all week and then there is nothing at the end of it. It’s been pretty crap.”
“I just need games. If I get match fit, I know I will be absolutely fine as finishing comes naturally to me. I don’t mind where, I just want to be playing and scoring goals, showing everyone how good I am.”
Two quotes from this interview. https://archive.ph/iBg17