Former Liverpool star says Reds have HUGE talent in the academy

According to a former Liverpool star there’s a ‘hugely talented’ kid in Liverpool’s academy right now.

In his first season at the club, Arne Slot hasn’t necessarily utilised the Reds’ academy as well as Jurgen Klopp has.

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The Dutchman has worked a little differently. Preferring to use a smaller squad and not rotate his team as often which has meant minutes for academy players significantly reducing.

But this won’t be the case forever. Slot will become to understand the club’s ethos and values more and he will eventually start to promote players into first team.

This is why there is a shake-up in the academy right now.

Both the U21 head coach Barry Lewtas and the U18 head coach Mark Bridge-Wilkinson have stepped down from their roles, paving the way for Slot’s coaching staff to put their own authority in the academy.

The upcoming changes, after a disappointing season at academy level, will ensure that the Reds create the best possible environment for promising young talents in order to make that step up to Slot’s first team squad.

And there are plenty of promising young talent at the club, including a Hungarian-born attacking midfielder.

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Erik Farkas is regarded as one of the best up and coming prospects in Liverpool’s U16 side as we wrote here.

The youngster has recently made his debut for England’s U16 national team, becoming the only Liverpool player to do that this year.

And while he represents the Three Lions he is of Hungarian origin.

He was born in Hungary and grew up in the country before moving to the North of England with his family at the age of 10.

Over the last five years, he’s been catching the eye at Liverpool’s academy and impressing those who have visited to watch him in action.

This includes former Liverpool goalkeeper Adam Bogdan, who spoke exclusively to Anfield Watch on our YouTube channel.

In the discussion, Bogdan spoke about Armin Pecsi and Milos Kerkez, but he was also asked about Farkas and he handed out a lot of praise for the youngster.

“He’s a hugely talented kid. I was at the academy a couple of times and when the Hungarian connection comes along we will talk about players [with the coaches] and him in particular,” Bogdan said.

“It was great to hear that he’s doing so great. I’ve seen him in training his got great technique.

“He’s got a long way to go. He’s only 15 or 16 so there’s a lot of talented boys in that time and to make it to the first team you need to be very strong in your head, you have to have the talent obviously and you have to overcome difficulties.

“So there’s a long way ahead of him, but where he is at the moment is great.

“For Hungarians, it’s not great that he’s chosen England at the moment but at the same time it can be understood because of the quality of the national team in England.

“But of course we’d be delighted if he has tried the national team in Hungary as well.

“But most importantly for him is that he has to progress and he has to be better each time and I think he’s in a great academy that is not just high quality but the pathway that has been proven in Liverpool is there. You can get to the first team if you do the requirements and you do your best and hit the benchmarks, we’ve seen it in the past I don’t have to mention names but they are there to see that you can come through and be part of the first team and be a big part of the first team as well.”

Bogdan is right. Liverpool fans have to be patient with Farkas.

He’s still at a young age and a lot can happen at this stage. But it’s exciting to hear that the next generation of talent coming through the ranks at Liverpool’s academy has high hopes.

Farkas is not the only promising youngster at Liverpool’s academy.

There’s also Rio Ngumoha, Jayden Danns and Joshua Abe and Vincent Joseph are also both worth keeping an eye on.

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The future is bright at Anfield and sooner or later Slot will begin to utilise the wealth of talent he has at his disposal from the club’s academy. That much is almost certainly guaranteed.