While Liverpool boast one of the best youth academies in England, not all of their young prospects manage to make the grade at Anfield.
For every Steven Gerrard or Trent Alexander-Arnold, there are countless other examples of youngsters who slip through the net at Liverpool.
We’ve taken a closer look at some of their academy graduates and have found seven of them currently playing in non-league.
Adam Morgan
“As a finisher, he is probably one of the best I’ve seen for a long, long time,” is how Robbie Fowler described Morgan back in 2012.
The striker spent 10 years in the Liverpool academy and scored numerous goals at various youth levels for the club.
He was then integrated into the first team under Brendan Rodgers and went on to make three senior appearances for the club before he left in 2014.
Morgan initially joined Yeovil Town, who were a Championship club at the time, but struggled to nail down a consistent starting spot.
Since then, he’s rarely stuck around in one place for long, having already played for over 20 different clubs throughout his career so far.
He first dropped down to play in non-league in 2015–16 when he joined Hemel Hempstead Town and he’s been moving around the lower divisions since then.
Now aged 30, he currently plays for Runcorn Linnets in the Northern Premier League Division One West.
Adam Hammill
Hammill joined the Liverpool academy at the age of nine and spent 14 years at the club before he left in 2009.
After being promoted to the senior squad, the winger spent three consecutive seasons out on loan before he eventually joined Barnsley on a permanent basis.
“I felt that it was more beneficial for myself to to be playing 30/40 games a season [on loan] rather than a handful a season [at Liverpool],” Hammill told The Football Historian Podcast.
“I thought that, that was putting me in better stead for things to come.”
While Hammill didn’t quite make the grade at Anfield, he has gone on to enjoy a good career for himself in the EFL.
After spending the majority of his career playing in the Championship, he dropped down to non-league in 2019-20.
Now aged 37, he currently plays for Litherland REMYCA FC in the North West Counties League Premier Division.
Jordon Ibe
Ibe joined Liverpool as a 16-year-old in 2011 and spent a few years developing in their academy before he made his senior breakthrough.
After showing some real flashed of quality in 2015–16, Liverpool cashed in on the winger when Bournemouth submitted a £15million offer.
Ibe ultimately struggled to make much of an impact on the south coast and he ended up leaving the club in June 2020 on a free transfer.
Since dropping down the football ladder, the 29-year-old has been open about his struggles with mental health.
Nowadays, you’ll find the 29-year-old playing for Hungerford Town in the Southern Football League.
Jordan Rossiter
When in the Liverpool academy, Rossiter once drew comparisons to Steven Gerrard, but living up to that sort of hype was always going to be impossible.
The midfielder did make five senior appearances for the club and he even scored against Middlesbrough in the League Cup.
After leaving Liverpool in 2016, he initially joined Rangers, but struggled to nail down a consistent starting spot.
He’s since spent the last few years playing in League One, but now finds himself out on loan with Oldham Athletic in the National League.
Jordan Lussey
The Bootle-born midfielder now represents Bootle FC in the Northern Premier League Division One West.
He started his football journey with Liverpool and spent 13 years with the club before he left to join Bolton in 2015.
Lussey then found himself playing non-league football just a couple of years after leaving Liverpool and he’s still going strong in the English lower leagues today.
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Michael Ngoo
Ngoo joined the Liverpool academy in 2009, with the Reds paying around £250,000 to prize him away from the Southend United academy.
The towering striker quickly made a name for himself in the academy as he scored goals for fun at youth level.
However, after a series of loan spells, he was ultimately released by Liverpool in 2014, having never made a senior appearance for the club.
Since then, he’s had stints in Scotland, Albania and Cyprus and now plays for Barking FC in the Essex Senior League.
Corey Whelan
Whelan was picked up by the Liverpool academy when he was nine years old, and he went on to spend 12 years at the club before he left in 2019.
After being released, the defender joined Phoenix Rising who compete in the USL Championship – the second tier of the United States.
He’s since returned to England and has had spells with Wigan Athletic and Carlisle United in the Football League.
Now aged 27, he currently plays for AFC Fylde in the National League.