Liverpool line up wonderkid to follow Steven Gerrard and Trent Alexander-Arnold

Liverpool have high hopes for one youngster. He's now following in the footsteps of Steven Gerrard and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Liverpool's academy (and its predecessors) has long been a source of incredible talent. The Reds have created some of their best players through youth development, particularly since the 1990s.

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Of course, there's an undisputed 'best' from that pipeline. Steven Gerrard is quite comfortably the best player Liverpool have produced themselves - and it's unlikely a better one is coming around anytime soon.

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Gerrard was a phenomenon and arguably Liverpool's best-ever player period. But it wasn't immediately obvious that this was the case.

For one, Gerrard didn't even start in midfield. Liverpool initially brought him into the team as a right-back, despite his youth games coming in the middle. The Scouser thrived there and eventually forced himself into a midfield role but the start and the initial experience came at right-back.

Funnily enough, Trent Alexander-Arnold got a similar start. The difference there is that Alexander-Arnold never stopped being a right-back - he just became an unbelievable, world-class one.

It was the same idea, though. Give the young midfielder minutes in a more 'fringe' position. In fact, Curtis Jones saw similar treatment as his initial games in pre-season came as a right-back.

And on Sunday, Liverpool did it again.

Liverpool have high hopes in James McConnell

Arne Slot is reportedly a big fan of James McConnell. The midfielder is expected to be in the Reds' first-team squad for the remainder of the season and that saw him get a start against Plymouth Argyle on Sunday.

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Of course, that game was a disaster for Liverpool as they lost 1-0 to Plymouth. McConnell, though, got the Gerrard treatment - he was used at right-back.

He didn't last too long there as an injury to Joe Gomez forced a reshuffle, though Slot did move McConnell back to right-back in the second half. It shows a desire to give the latter some minutes where he can, while also asking for a different kind of experience.

Again, this is something that really benefitted other incredibly talented Liverpool academy products. The Reds are going for it again and you could argue it's another sign that the club have high hopes for what McConnell could become.

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Now, elimination from the FA Cup will make it more difficult for him to get games going forward. The real test of their faith, then, will be if McConnell continues to get games in bigger competitions, with titles on the line.

If so, this could well be the breakout season for yet another shining academy product.

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