The club’s academy is producing one exciting prospect after another, and Jayden Danns is the latest to earn the chance to train with Jurgen Klopp‘s first-team.
Eighteen-year-old Danns has been fast-tracked this season, he first started the campaign with the club’s under-18s before moving up to the U21s side and flourishing.
He has scored 21 goals and notched six assists in a brilliant campaign to date, one that has recently seen him called into first-team training.
It is reward for his efforts having focused on improving his work rate off the ball and his creativity on it.
The versatile forward underwent a significant growth spurt of 10 inches in the space of just eight months at U16 level and it forced him to sit on the sidelines – something we saw with Kaide Gordon.
“In the space of such a short time, I think I went from 5ft 2in to 6ft, I was out for like eight months with Osgood [-Schlatter’s disease] and that was a tough time for me,” Danns explained to the club’s website.
“You’re thinking, ‘Why’s this happening to me?’ Obviously when you get back you start to appreciate it so much. Coming back, I just tried to get the most out of what I can really.”
The teenager is more than making up for lost time, and Klopp has name-checked the youngster on occasion when gushing about the talent at the academy.
At 18, he could be understood for being over-awed by the first-team environment, but Dann’s view on being with the senior side shows a maturity beyond his years.
“When you get up there, you’ve got to keep the standard that they’re keeping,” he said of his time with the first-team.
“It’s all a new level and I really want to work hard to become the players that they are right now.
“My only focus is to put my all into what I’m doing and keep practising and keep doing extras to get where they are.
“My long-term aim is to be the best player I can possibly be. I don’t want to end my career and have any regrets where I could have worked harder. I’d rather just put all the work in and try to get as much as I can from it.
“Step by step, I want to become the player that I envision.”
Danns, who explained he “used to get compared to Firmino” when he was younger, joined the club at under-7 level and is the son of former Premier League midfielder Neil Danns.
