22-year-old Liverpool star in transfer tug-of-war

Richard Hughes Liverpool 2024-25
© IMAGO - Richard Hughes Liverpool 2024-25

Now that Andoni Iraola is in charge of Liverpool, a lot of things are going to change.

Next season, the Anfield outfit need to do everything in their power to try and compete for some silverware once again.

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This term, they finished fifth in the Premier League which is miles off where they were expected to be.

However, for them to do this, some players will need to be moved on so that the Spaniard and Richard Hughes can rebuild the squad and get Liverpool back to their best.

And, even though Iraola has only been in the job for a few days, it seems like he's already getting to work figuring out who he wants to keep and move on.

Luca Stephenson is wanted by Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers

Luca Stephenson is a player that some Liverpool fans probably won't have heard of.

However, for the last two seasons, the 22-year-old has been out on loan with Dundee United and has firmly made a name for himself in the Scottish Premiership.

The young Englishman is a fairly versatile player and, with two years of senior football under his belt, you'd think that Liverpool would at least want to try and keep him around to prove his worth.

However, a fresh update from the Daily Mail has claimed that this is not the case.

"Liverpool midfielder Luca Stephenson is wanted by Championship rivals Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers," they wrote.

"The 22-year-old has spent the last two seasons playing on loan in the Scottish Premiership with Dundee United, where he won their young player of the year award, and is ready to make his next move a permanent one away from Anfield.

"A number of Scottish Premiership and English Championship teams have shown interest with newly promoted Bolton preparing a bid.

Andoni Iraola could end up giving Liverpool's youngsters more of a shot at first-team football

One thing that irked Liverpool supporters about Slot was that he never gave youngsters a chance to prove themselves.

When the Reds had no right-backs left due to the injuries suffered by Conor Bradley, Joe Gomez and Jeremie Frimpong, Calvin Ramsay was expected to come in and plug the gap.

However, instead of starting a natural full-back in his usual role, he chose to use Curtis Jones and Dominik Szoboszlai there instead.

But, now that Iraola is in the hot seat, there's going to be a clear pathway for youngsters to use to try and make their way into his first team.

This is why players such as Stephenson shouldn't jump ship just yet as, with pre-season just around the corner, the Spaniard is likely to use several members of his youth ranks in their friendlies to get a better feel of what players he actually needs.

Because, as Jurgen Klopp proved, there's plenty of talent just waiting to be unearthed in Liverpool's youth ranks.

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