A year on from completing his £200,000 move to Liverpool, striker Will Wright is aiming to make an impact in pre-season and prove he can be their future No. 9.
Wright joined Liverpool from Salford City last summer, turning down a more lucrative offer from Arsenal to stay in the northwest.
The 18-year-old will have seen the pathway laid out for him on Merseyside, which showed as he made major strides in his first campaign at Anfield.
Player Profile: Will Wright
Full Name: William Stephen WrightAge: 18 (April 3, 2008)Height: 6’4″ (193cm)Birthplace: Preston, England
Position: StrikerFoot: RightSigned From: Salford CityTransfer Fee: £200k (€234.7k)
He played 18 games at youth level, scoring six goals and laying on five assists, while also making the first-team bench on four occasions following Hugo Ekitike‘s injury.
Expected to be involved in pre-season with Ekitike still sidelined and Alexander Isak yet to report back following the World Cup, Wright will look to catch Andoni Iraola‘s eye.
The striker will do so with the long-term ambition of taking Isak’s place as Liverpool’s No. 9.
KIRKBY, ENGLAND - Sunday, March 1, 2026: Liverpool's Will Wright celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the Premier League 2 match between Liverpool FC Under-21's and Tottenham Hotspur FC Under-21's at the Liverpool Academy. Liverpool won 4-2. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
“Obviously [I] hope to go on tour maybe, get some minutes and show the fans what I’m about,” he told the club’s official website ahead of pre-season in the United States.
“Then long-term plans, hopefully just play for Liverpool and become the No. 9.”
By all accounts Wright is a committed professional, mature beyond his years, and despite his lofty targets he speaks with the humility of a player who knows he must work for his future.
Having arrived with first-team experience from his time at Salford City, he almost enjoyed the perfect start – denied a goal with his first touch in the pre-season victory over Athletic Club last summer.
“It was a dream come true really,” he reflected. “For me, I only started playing academy football at 15, 16.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Monday, August 4, 2025: Liverpool's Florian Wirtz being subbed off for new signing Will Wright during a pre-season friendly match between Liverpool FC and Athletic Bilbao at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
“To be able to say two years later I’d be playing at Anfield with all the players that I’m playing with now and Mo, Virg, it was such a dream come true really and definitely overshot what I originally thought I could do. I’m really proud.”
Iraola welcomes his first-team squad back to the AXA Training Centre on Tuesday with Federico Chiesa his only senior centre-forward.
Liverpool will not play any friendlies until they arrive in the US, when Isak will be playing catch-up, and the likelihood is that Wright, Jayden Danns and perhaps even Josh Sonni-Lambie are called upon for the tour.
Already having enjoyed a taste of life at senior level, it would be no surprise if the tall teenager from Preston takes another step towards challenging for the No. 9 spot.