Liverpool’s Next Generation: A Surprise Name Could Lead the Way

As Arne Slot continues to integrate him into the Liverpool setup at the AXA Training Centre, the Dutchman will be keeping a close eye on both the first-team and the academy setups for the right personnel to fit his tactical plans. Dominik Szoboszlai, Andy Robertson and Viteszlav Jaros are the latest Liverpool stars to return to training with the likes of Mohamed Salah, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott and Kostas Tsimikas already back on Merseyside.

However, despite the promising progress on the training ground, supporters appear to be growing frustrated in the lack of transfer movement whilst their Premier League rivals continue to bolster their squads. With that being said, there is still an abundance of young talent to be excited about throughout the setups at Liverpool.

Obviously you have the likes of Stefan Bajcetic, Jarrell Quansah and Conor Bradley, who have all made waves in the first-team. However, Arne Slot seems to have taken a shine to a surprise name within Liverpool’s youth setup – Harvey Blair.

Slot’s Faith in Blair

As senior players return to pre-season training, the majority of Liverpool’s academy players have returned to the youth training sessions – but Blair appears to be one of the exceptions in those changes. The talented winger has remained a prominent figure in the first-team training sessions, so has clearly caught the eye of Slot and his new staff at the AXA Training Centre.

It’s obviously a struggle to see Blair being too involved in the first-team too much this upcoming season, but this show of faith from Slot could lean towards the idea of the youngster being included in Liverpool’s Pre-Season tour in the USA later this month, which would be really exciting.

Who is Harvey Blair?

Although not a complete stranger to the first-team plans at Anfield, the 20-year-old has struggled for game time over recent years. That perhaps hasn’t been helped by the progress of the likes of Kaide Gordon and Ben Doak, who were highly rated by the former head coach, Jurgen Klopp, and played in that right-wing position that Blair has often been deployed in.

Blair does have a senior appearance to his name, which came in Liverpool’s Carabao Cup Fourth Round tie at Preston North End in 2021 where he was named in the starting lineup. The strange thing about this debut was that he had represented Liverpool’s first-team before even having the chance to lineup for Barry Lewtas’ Under-23 side.

The 20-year-old was even struggling for game time for the Under-21’s towards the end of next season with Gordon and Lewis Koumas nailing down the wide positions in Lewtas’ side, whilst Jayden Danns made the number nine role his own. All of this makes Slot’s eagerness to utilise him in first-team training sessions all the more surprising yet impressive.