Liverpool wonderkid who REJECTED Real Madrid set to make Champions League debut

An exciting wonderkid who rejected Real Madrid in the summer could now make his debut against them.

It's a huge game at Anfield on Wednesday night. Even though it feels like Liverpool facing Real Madrid happens pretty much every season now, there's no bigger game than this for the Reds.

Particularly with the players they are about to face. In another world, Kylian Mbappe, Aurelien Tchouameni, Dean Huijsen and Jude Bellingham might have ended up at Anfield. Liverpool wanted to sign all of them, and came close.

Xabi Alonso could have become Jurgen Klopp's successor, too. But he decided to stay at Bayer Leverkusen at the time.

Meanwhile, it's the return of Trent Alexander-Arnold. Whether he will actually get to play remains to be seen. He's been warming the bench for the last couple of games at Madrid, so it's not guaranteed he won't do the same in this game.

But it's not just Real Madrid players who are facing a club they rejected. There's an exciting wonderkid who could get his moment to shine for Liverpool.

In the summer, Liverpool almost had another Alexander-Arnold situation happen to them. The Reds' Spanish youth international, Wellity Lucky, who was born in Zaragoza, had an expiring contract.

Anfield Watch exclusively revealed that among the interested parties ready to sign him on a free were Real Madrid. Given Lucky's status as a Spanish youth international and having impressed scouts with his performances at Liverpool, there was a chance for him to follow in Alexander-Arnold's footsteps.

But in the end, Liverpool managed to convince him to stay, and he has since been rewarded with a debut. Lucky made his bow for the first-team against Crystal Palace last week, and while Liverpool lost 3-0, he did put in an impressive performance completing 21 out of 21 pass attempts in less than half an hour on the pitch.

Now, it seems like he's captured the imagination of Slot because ahead of Real Madrid, Lucky was part of only a select few players training with the first-team at the AXA on Monday.

Given Liverpool can name up to 12 players on the bench, and there being a shortage of options at centre-back right now, it seems highly likely that Lucky could participate in his first ever Champions League squad, ironically against one of the European giants he rejected in favour of staying at Liverpool.

Much depends on how the game goes, but potentially he could even make an appearance.

It would be something that he absolutely deserves. The 19-year-old centre-back has been in brilliant form for the U21s this season.

Lucky has won 76% of his six defensive duels per 90 and 65% of his 2.75 aerial duels per 90, while averaging 8.86 recoveries and 3.5 interceptions.

On top of that, his composure on the ball, which he showed against Palace, has been a stand-out, having completed 92% of his passes and averaged 17 forward passes per 90 minutes.

He's very much highly regarded at Anfield and a player to keep a close eye on.

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