Liverpool are now close to signing a 16-year-old talent who travelled as part of a Premier League squad last season.
The Reds have made a habit of pinching precocious prospects from fellow English clubs over the years, taking Harvey Elliott from Fulham, Trey Nyoni from Leicester and Kaide Gordon from Derby to name a few.
Now, Liverpool are set to sign another wonderkid – this time from Wolves…
Liverpool close to signing Alvin Ayman
Respected journalist David Lynch has now told Anfield Index that Liverpool are in talks to sign 16-year-old Wolves gem Alvin Ayman, and those at Anfield are confident of securing his signature.
It is also said that those inside Anfield are very excited by what the teenager could achieve on Merseyside.
As aforesaid, Ayman travelled to a Premier League game with Wolves last season, as Gary O’Neil included him on a trip to the Etihad Stadium for a 5-1 Premier League defeat against Manchester City back in May.
Lynch said: “The deal is close to being done. Liverpool are in talks to get that done. It’s obviously a strange one with the young kids because you’re trying to agree a few that won’t incur a tribunal being involved and all that.
“I think Liverpool are keen to avoid that, but it sounds like they’re pretty confident that one will get done. There’s excitement around this lad and they think he’s a big talent.”
The Wolves wonderkid is predominantly a central defender, although he can step into the centre of midfield to great effect.
Interestingly, the Liverpool Echo even mention that Ayman scored with his first touch after coming on to play as a central midfielder in an U17 Premier League Cup semi-final against Leicester City, sealing a 3-1 win.
16-year-old hopefully won’t suffer from Arne Slot replacing Jurgen Klopp
Quite often in football, it is all about timing.
Take Wilfried Zaha for example, who found himself arriving at Manchester United just as David Moyes was tasked with replacing arguably the greatest manager of all time in Sir Alex Ferguson.
Understandably, Moyes did not want to rock the boat and regularly fielded senior players, neglecting talents such as Zaha, who was later loaned to Cardiff, then sold back to Crystal Palace.
Arne Slot obviously has a similarly difficult task of replacing Jurgen Klopp at Anfield, a man who remarkably, and bravely, gave 90 senior debuts to youngsters during his nine years at Anfield – the first being Connor Randall in October 2015, and the last being Mateusz Musialowski in March 2024.
The German seemingly did not care about age, only talent, which is how it should be.
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Hopefully, Slot views young talents in a similar way, and will be a positive for Ayman’s development rather than a hinderance.
