Liverpool want to pay £800,000 to sign Yaya Toure-leased 14-year-old

As post-Brexit recruitment continues across the UK, Liverpool are reportedly ready to sign a 14-year-old defender for up to £800,000.

Following the implementation of Brexit, English clubs will no longer be able to sign players from outside the UK until their 18th birthday.
Stefan Bajcetic was Liverpool’s latest foreign signing for the academy, with a focus on the best young players from England, Scotland and beyond.

The likes of Kaide Gordon, Bobby Clark and Ben Doak have all joined since the rules changed, and the influx is expected to continue this summer.

Along with interest in Irish striker Mason Melia, the 15-year-old who scored on his debut for St Patrick’s Athletic in January, Liverpool are set to sign 14-year-old Harvey Owen from Wolves. According to The Secret Scout, this is for a hefty £800,000 fee.

That’s a significant outlay for a player under 15, as the club paid just £600,000 for Doak following his first-team debut for Celtic.

However, it does show Liverpool’s commitment to strengthening their youth ranks, who are still seen as a key asset to the seniors.
Owen arrives with the support of an unlikely figure in Yaya Toure – who now works at Tottenham – Wolves Academy manager Wes Hughes told the club’s official website in October.

“We recently played Tottenham Hotspur and he got a big pat on the back from a former Yaya Toure player,” said Hughes. “He personally went to Harvey and said he had great potential and would be a really good player in the future, so I think he’ll be very proud.”

Hughes went on to explain Owen’s ability as a player, with the teenager currently more comfortable playing at left centre-back.

“Harvey was introduced to the group last year when he was 13 and playing in the Under-15 Youth Cup,” he added.

“The boys went on and did quite well in the league and made it to the semis – Harvey was part of that journey and the boys were really into him as a younger player.

“He is a right-footed player who likes to play left in defence, both back three and back four.
“He has made great strides in football. “We strongly believe that if he can overcome some difficulties and overcome some adversities, he can surprise some.”

If Owen joined Liverpool, he would likely start as an Under-16 player and be slow to progress despite the £800,000 price tag.

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Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool knows $690m Manchester United truth amid Champions League race as FSG faces big summer

Liverpool and Manchester United are two of the teams battling to finish in the Premier League top four and qualify for the Champions League this season.

With Liverpool trying to qualify for the Champions League by overtaking at least Manchester United or Newcastle before the end of the Premier League season, Jurgen Klopp and his staff have already started making plans for the summer.

Regardless of how the season ends in terms of results and final standings, Liverpool need to overtake this summer and need to spend money without necessarily having a large amount of assets to cash in on to fund any move.

Amid growing competition – driven in large part by levels of spending in England that most of the rest of the continent simply cannot match – Liverpool cannot afford to fall further behind.

However, a quick look at the spending that has taken place around the Premier League in recent years shows just how successful Liverpool have been on a relatively small budget.

According to One Football, since Pep Guardiola joined Manchester City (a few months after Klopp’s arrival at Anfield), the Etihad side’s net spending has more than doubled to $727m (£580m/ 667 million euros), like those of Liverpool.

Manchester United are now around three times as numerous, with Chelsea and Arsenal also top of the list when it comes to spending planning.

At $292m (£233m/€268m), Liverpool is also below Aston Villa, Spurs, West Ham and Wolves, as well as newly big-spending Newcastle United, whose investment will only increase considerably.

Manchester United, which had net spend of $983m (£784m/€902m) over the period (a variance of US$690m/£551m/€634m euros), shouldn’t be in the top 4, risking missing out – that should be a no-brainer.

Erik ten Hag has been partially crippled this season due to the lack of a No.9 to fall back on and that issue needs to be addressed as a priority this summer. But it was the Manchester United manager who decided to splurge on Antony last summer.

Although Liverpool have consistently outperformed in recent seasons, that doesn’t mean the Reds shouldn’t be in better shape this season. The money for a midfield reinforcement was available last summer, but the sporting decision has been made.

Liverpool are under pressure to spend big this summer, but everyone else will be too. Even after a big summer that saw the midfield change, the Reds have yet to excel in the wider context.

But that’s precisely why it’s so important for Liverpool to fight their way into the Champions League this time around and then invest wisely this summer. The competition is not weakening.