Liverpool starlet on his way out of Anfield soon

Liverpool now have less than a week until their opening Premier League game against Newcastle United.

The two rivals will face off on 23 August in a game which nobody knows how things will go.

Both clubs have suffered massive losses this summer with the Magpies potentially even worse off than Liverpool.

Over the last year or so, the rivalry between Liverpool and Newcastle has been heightened due to the way that negotiations for Alexander Isak's deal were completed.

The fact that the Anfield outfit also chose to sign Hugo Ekitike who was Eddie Howe's ideal successor for the Sweden international didn't go down too well either.

This summer, both clubs have lost massive players and now, before the game comes around, Liverpool could be about to lose another member of their squad.

James McConnell could end up exiting Liverpool this week

Liverpool's academy ranks have some exceptional talent among them at the moment.

Rio Ngumoha, Lewis Koumas, Trey Nyoni and Stefan Bajectic are just some of the players who spring to mind.

And, as important as youngsters are to the way that Liverpool play and the amount of depth that they have, if they aren't playing senior football on a regular basis, their development will slow down.

That's why it's exciting to see that Nyoni and Ngumoha are both expected to play major roles for Andoni Iraola this term.

But, that begs the question of, what Liverpool are going to do about the rest of their youngsters.

Some such as Luca Stephenson have already packed their bags but others, such as James McConnell, still have their future to figure out.

And now, according to the Swansea Independent, the midfielder's future may now be sealed.

"McConnell is a different kettle of fish, he could be a Preston player this week. Any thoughts on him coming to Swansea will mean a late surge of interest to jump on that Preston move," the online outlet wrote.

"He has been in discussions since Friday. The reports of constant interest in McConnell are only reflected in Vitor’s discussions in May and July as you have read on the Indy.

"We have been told that Preston are in the box seats and there’s been little in transfer talk speculation of his Swansea arrival."

James McConnell needs to play regular first-team football this season

McConnell was one of the only members of Liverpool's academy that Arne Slot actually took a liking to.

Whenever the Dutchman was asked about the 21-year-old, he always spoke about him in a high regard and, the fact that John Heitinga took the Englishman with him to Ajax proves how good he actually was.

However, unfortunately for the midfielder, his time with the Eredivisie outfit was fairly short-lived as, before the end of the 2025-26 winter transfer window, a termination to his season-long loan was agreed.

During his time in the Netherlands, McConnell played in seven games and failed to contribute to any goals as he only managed to feature in 219 minutes of football.

Indeed, injuries ruined his flow while at the club but, fans still thought that he should have done better.

This is why another loan deal is important for the youngster this season.

If he doesn't get some proper experience under his belt, there's no way that he'll be able to break into Liverpool's first-team squad in the future.

So, making the move to either Swansea City or Preston North End makes a lot of sense as it means that he'll be playing regular football in England and it would allow him to find his feet in one of the most physical leagues in the world.

Of course, it's a bit of a step down from the Champions League football he was playing last term but, for the next step of his career, this feels like the right move.