If and when Jurgen Klopp’s move to Liverpool is complete he will have some pressing matters to attend to, like attempting to keep talisman Philippe Coutinho and filtering through Brendan Rodgers’ near £300 million haul of players.
However long-serving midfielder Lucas Leiva has indicated he feels it is the clubs current youth players who should be given a chance in the first team sooner rather than later.
In particular the Brazilian picked out compatriot Allan Rodrigues de Sousa who could be the next star to grace the Anfield pitch.
The 18 year old, simply known as Allan came over to train with Liverpool during the summer and did enough to earn himself a contract.
Lucas Leiva was very complimentary of the young Brazilian who played for Internacional, Leiva’s ex club Gremio’s cross-city rivals. Suggesting the teenager will have a big future on Merseyside.
“He played in my city for Gremio’s biggest rivals, Internacional, which is very famous in Brazil for producing players. In the two weeks he was here we could see that he has a great future ahead of him. Now he has gone away to get some experience and playing time on loan in Finland and hopefully at some point in the next few years he will be ready to make an impact for Liverpool.”
Internacional have indeed been a fruitful conveyor belt for Brazilian talent with alumni including Alexander Pato, Nilmar, Fred, Tyson and Luiz Adriano.
Allan will be hoping he is the next in line to make a telling impact in Europe and in Jurgen Klopp he will have a man who has a proven track record of bringing through young talent. His most famous example would be Mario Gotze, who broke into the Borussia Dortmund team at 17 and has gone on to score the winning goal in the World Cup final. Most recently Klopp brought through defenders Marian Sarr and Erik Durm.
As for Allan, he will be looking to make an impact for Finnish loan club SJK where he has already made six appearances – five of them starts – and force his way into Klopp’s thinking either in January, when his loan spell ends or next summer.
He does have some stiff competition ahead of him however. Englishman Adam Lallana will be hoping a new manager can mean an upturn in form, similar to his performances for Southampton. The 18 year old will also have to compete with compatriots Coutinho and Roberto Firmino, who played his best football in the central attacking position at Hoffenheim last season.
Nonetheless, with established players like Lucas Leiva delivering praise and Klopp’s willingness to introduce youth the teenagers first team days may not be as far away as you may think.