Earlier this week, there were more than 10 young players injected into first-team training and with a trip to Germany next up, Jurgen Klopp has said the “door is open” for them.
The new season is only four weeks away and Liverpool will step up their preparations with a training camp in Germany, in the Black Forest town of Donaueschingen.
They leave on Saturday and will be in the country for up to 10 days, with their training camp coupled with two friendlies – against Karlsruher and Greuther Furth.
The full senior squad – except for Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott – will make the trip, and so will a host of youngsters, but we may have to wait and see on Jordan Henderson and Fabinho.
Nevertheless, the opportunity will be there for the next generation to continue their progress under the watchful eye of Klopp and his coaches.
And the manager has name-checked three that we can expect to see in his home country, with Conor Bradley, Ben Doak and Bobby Clark all hailed by Klopp.
“There are now not too many new players but [we have] a lot of young players, of course, in and young players for who the door is open, who can play a different role next season,” Klopp told the club website.
“They are all a year older, looking really good – Conor Bradley looking really good, Ben Doak really good, Bobby Clark grew somehow, which is normal!
“They all can play a slightly different role if they want and yeah, how I said, there is an open door for that.”
Doak, 17, pulled out of Scotland’s under-21s squad during the summer to be ready to hit the ground running this pre-season, while Bradley more than impressed on loan with Bolton.
Bradley played predominantly at right-wing back for the Trotters as they made it to the League One play-offs, and this summer will be decisive in seeing if he can carve out a role to stay with the Reds for 2023/24.
Last month, the 19-year-old admitted he did not know what his immediate future held: “We haven’t spoken about what exactly is going to happen,” he said. “But obviously, it’s a big one for me so I’m looking forward to it.”
Pre-season is always an exciting time for fans to see who is coming up the ranks and this year will be no different – but, unfortunately, one teen will not be present after a cruel injury.
