Our Liverpool fans here inside the Transfer Tavern are truly excited about the next crop of young talent the club currently have waiting in the wings.

There’s no doubt in our regulars’ minds that Reds boss Jurgen Klopp has some amazing attacking options to choose from, although the same can’t be said about his back-line at the moment, however much Virgil Van Dijk has improved it. Moreover, on a positive note, this season has seen an emergence of talent coming through the Kop youth academy, all looking to follow in the footsteps of some legendary figures like Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, and Michael Owen.

Despite providing many youth players with their debut, many are yet to hold down a regular spot in the first-team, amid the German’s constant rotation policy – which has been more than highlighted in the goalkeeper situation alone this season.

Indeed, the journey of which an academy player has to make in order to thrive in the starting eleven is long and often features a fair few spells out on loan. With that in mind, many of the next debutants can expect a little wait before being in the matchday squad on a regular basis.

Although our landlord thinks these two players have what it takes already…

Trent Alexander-Arnold

The young England man is highly rated by Liverpool Academy coach and former captain Steven Gerrard, who has tipped him to go on to achieve great things. He can play in either a centre midfield role or in the right-back position, which shows some real versatility for such a young age.

He has a fantastic range of passing ability, a superb box-to-box engine, and a natural instinct to get forward, very much like the legendary former Liverpool captain, although he does come from a slightly deeper position.

Having impressed massively throughout his younger years, if Klopp gives him his chance in midfield, the German could find himself with a real talent to take the side forward.

Joe Gomez

Although Joe Gomez didn’t start out in Liverpool’s youth academy, the England man started his football career at Charlton Athletic before The Reds moved to snap him up as a young 17-year-old.

Now, he can comfortably play in the centre-back role, a position he started out at with Charlton, although Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is currently using him as a full-back in a bid to cut his teeth early in the Premier League.

A calm and often assured presence in a somewhat wild defence, the young England man should form the foundation of the Reds’ back-line for many years to come.