Liverpool have won the race to secure the services of highly-coveted winger Josh Abe, with the 15-year-old committing his future to the club’s academy. Abe enjoyed a standout breakthrough campaign after making his Under-18s debut in September under Simon Wiles, going on to net eight goals in 10 U18 Premier League North outings before his season was cruelly cut short by a knee injury sustained while on international duty with England U16s in March.
The teenager, who has been on Liverpool‘s books since the age of four, etched his name into the record books as the youngest player ever to represent the Reds in the UEFA Youth League when he came off the bench during the round of 32 defeat at MSK Zilina in Slovakia in February, and has already trained alongside the first team.
Those impressive displays attracted the attention of several top clubs, including Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea. Earlier this year he was also given a tour of Real Madrid’s facilities, having signed with Tyler Alexander-Arnold’s PLG Agency, which was recently acquired by Gersh.
However, Liverpool were resolute in their determination to retain Abe, and negotiations over his future have now been concluded, with the youngster among the latest intake of first-year scholars at the academy. He is set to put pen to paper on his first professional contract once he turns 17 in July next year.
Abe is expected to return to full fitness ahead of pre-season and, with several senior squad players set to be absent following World Cup commitments, could feature in the first-team party for next month’s tour of the United States.
Abe, looking to follow in the footsteps of Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones, Conor Bradley and Jarrell Quansah as recent academy graduates, is a left-footed right-winger.
He excells at taking his man on, not dissimilar to Ryo Ngumoha, and has been compared to Callum Hudson-Odoi.