Liverpool's latest target in their recruitment drive for young talent has shown incredible potency in front of goal
Andoni Iraola, Manager of Liverpool
Liverpool are hunting for the best young talent in world football(Image: Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
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It's not just the marquee names in football that Liverpool are eyeing in the transfer market. The Reds' recruitment drive in recent years has seen them target - and sign - some of the most promising youngsters in the sport.
The Premier League giants have already secured Mor Talla Ndiaye from Senegalese club Amitie FC, Ifeanyi Ndukwe from Austria Vienna, and Samuel Martinez from Atletico Nacional in Colombia this year alone.
They also inked deals for Genk goalkeeper Lucca Brughmans and French striker Djylian N'Guessan from Saint-Etienne in the past month. The latest target on Liverpool's reported hitlist is striker Michael Mulholland from Northern Irish side Crusaders.
According to the Mail, the Reds have scouted the Belfast-born forward, who is said to have scored a staggering 256 goals in one season. The 15-year-old has earned three caps for the Northern Ireland U17 youth team and already has an Adidas deal.
Per Transfermarkt, he's appeared in two NIFL Premiership games this season and scored one goal in just 20 minutes of action. The Reds have flexed their muscles in the last two years with the £100m-plus signings of Florian Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Bradley Barcola.
But a focus on the future has seen the Reds boost their youth ranks with international talent. The man at the forefront of that is Matt Newberry. The Northern Irishman earned his start in football as an academy scout for Birmingham City before moving to Anfield just under 15 years ago.
He's performed roles in youth scouting and recruitment and has been the club's 'director of global talent' since 2024. He's overseen Liverpool's scouting missions across the world, leading the club to beat out Real Madrid to Brughmans' signature, who many believed would become the long-term successor to Thibaut Courtois.
Coleraine's Tonks with Crusaders' Michael Mulholland
Liverpool have watched Crusaders striker Michael Mulholland(Image: Stephen Hamilton/INPHO/Shutterstock)
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British clubs being prohibited from signing European players before 18 years of age, coupled with the effects of Brexit, means the cost of acquiring homegrown talent has risen. Long-time Liverpool academy director Alex Inglethorpe said earlier this year: "The market is more competitive now around the age of 16 than it’s ever been.
"There’s no question that since Brexit, the landscape has changed and it’s driven up the price of young English talent." However, there are exceptions to the rule, as in recent years the club signed Rio Ngumoha and Trey Nyoni from Chelsea and Leicester City, respectively.
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