One of the first things you notice in Alex Inglethorpe's office at Liverpool's AXA Training Centre is a framed image gifted by Trent Alexander-Arnold. It is a picture from 2019 of the academy director and player watching a game together. Alexander-Arnold left for a new challenge at Real Madrid last year, after 20 years on Merseyside, but his story is one of inspiration for everyone that enters Liverpool's academy.
He joined as a six-year-old in 2004 and went on to win the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup, Community Shield, Uefa Super Cup and the Fifa Club World Cup with Liverpool. "The ideal for any academy, and certainly for us, is wanting young players - and hopefully they're local players - to improve the first team and in doing so, they come and win trophies," says Inglethorpe. "At Liverpool the bar is high, so to have a player capable of winning everything that you could possibly win is a dream." Inglethorpe and his team oversee the development of younger players and ensure there is alignment between the academy and the first team.
One of the phrases used is 'the first team pitch is only 300 metres away from the academy building in Kirkby, but the journey might take 10 years to get there'. Under new boss Andoni Iraola, players like Rio Ngumoha, Trey Nyoni, Lewis Koumas and James McConnell, who have spent time at the academy, have all featured this season. "We were fortunate because of how the calendar worked, with players still at the World Cup and a delayed return.
Andoni and his staff spent a lot of his first week here watching the academy," says Inglethorpe. "So we felt ahead, in terms of building a relationship from the outset." At the Kirkby academy, phones are handed in on a morning and there is a clause in contracts with a maximum engine size limit for cars that are driven into academy premises. "It comes back to passing your audition.
First impressions matter," says Inglethorpe. "Often before you've kicked a ball, the car you drive or the watch you wear can have an impact on how you're thought of - and that could be first team staff or players looking at you. "We've believed in the idea of 'earning the right' for some time." Last week, Manchester United signed 16-year-old winger Isaac Konde from Liverpool on a one-year scholarship followed by a five-year professional deal.
Both clubs are now in talks over a compensation package. In February, a tribunal ruled Liverpool must pay at least £2.8m to Chelsea for Ngumoha. The 18-year-old left Chelsea in September 2024 to join the Reds and signed his first professional contract a year later.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
