A Liverpool youngster has been named among Premier League’s best young talents in Guardian’s Next Generation list.
The Guardian uses its Next Generation series to highlight young talent at Premier League clubs. It selects the best player born 17 seasons earlier at each club.
Liverpool’s first picks included Trent Alexander-Arnold in 2015, Ben Woodburn in 2016 and Curtis Jones in 2017. Alexander-Arnold went on to be named the Premier League’s Young Player of the Season for 2019-20.
Woodburn became Liverpool’s youngest goalscorer, at 17 years and 45 days, in an EFL Cup tie against Leeds United in November 2016.
Jones scored the winner against Everton in the FA Cup third round in January 2020. He later made 228 appearances for the club and won six major trophies.
Kaide Gordon (2021), Ben Doak (2022), Trey Nyoni (2023) and Rio Ngumoha (2024) followed. Ngumoha is now a forward in the first-team squad under head coach Andoni Iraola.
This year, Liverpool’s name in the list is Josh Abe. The Guardian published its 2026 edition on Monday.
The newspaper named 20 players, one from each club, born between 1 September 2009 and 31 August 2010. This age band is known as first-year scholars.
Arsenal’s Max Dowman, Chelsea’s Mahdi Nicoll-Jazuli, Manchester City’s Xavier Parker and Manchester United’s Jaume Camacho also feature.
Abe was born on 17 July 2010 in Warrington. He has been at Liverpool since pre-Academy, according to the club’s website.
He made his Under-18 debut as an Under-16 player in 2025-26. He scored nine goals at that level, including a hat-trick in a 6-1 win over Leeds in February.
Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City were all linked with Abe this summer.
He signed scholarship terms and is set to begin a three-year professional deal when he turns 17 in July 2027. Liverpool also gave him the No. 40 shirt.
Abe trained with the first team under Iraola in July and travelled on the club’s US pre-season tour. He started the friendly against Wrexham in New York.
On 8 August, he scored on his Under-21 debut in a 2-2 draw with Huddersfield Town. He came on as a second-half substitute.
Abe then underwent surgery on his right shoulder at the end of August to fix a long-standing problem.
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