The five best Liverpool Academy prospects ranked!
By Josh Ricker
No.1 – Ki-Jana Hoever
Just a handful of days ago, Ki-Jana Hoever became the youngest player for Liverpool to feature in the FA Cup, and is in my opinion, the most promising prospect in the academy. At just 16 years of age, he already looks as if he could play in the first team.
Sure he is a little small to be going up against Premier League forwards, but having him on the bench or in the squad is a huge advantage for Klopp and the coaching staff. Hoever is a versatile defender that is able to play on the right-wing or in the center, which also carries along a much more broad skill set.
According to the Mirror, this is how the Dutch defender was introduced to the team,
"The teenager found himself marking none other than Mohamed Salah – the forward who scored 44 goals in 52 appearances last season. However, Hoever took his chance and blew away his senior team-mates with how well he handled the Egytpian. He’s been training with the first team ever since. Jurgen Klopp heaped praise on the defender prior to his debut, and said: “It is just a joy to watch him. He is an incredible, confident young fella and is really a good player on top of that.”"
If it is in training or not, shutting down Mo Salah as a sixteen year old must feel pretty good, and it seems as if Klopp thinks so too. Klopp will only be feeling better after watching his young star perform so well in Wolverhampton. Many fans thought that Hoever was Liverpool’s best player in a sub-par performance, facing the task of defending against Raul Jimenez and Ruben Neves.
Next. All Rafa Benitez' Liverpool Signings Ranked!. dark
Nevertheless, expect this defender to get some real game time in the upcoming months and years.