It’s no secret that two-time Premier League champions Liverpool are a club, from top to bottom, blessed with rich tradition and history – and, as it goes, guiding second-generation talent is central to how the club from the red half of Merseyside works and operates.
Jayden Danns, son of Neil, and Jason Koumas’s son, Lewis, are both key components of the club’s academy ranks. In fact, the aforementioned duo have already made their initial steps into senior proceedings – and up next could be Prince Kobe Cisse.
Son of Djibril Cisse, who played 79 times for the Anfield outfit between 2004 and 2007, the 15-year-old has all the makings of a professional footballer – and it’s now on the club to help him to develop into one of football’s biggest stars. Time will tell.
Remembered for his part to play in Liverpool’s Champions League triumph against a star-studded AC Milan after returning from a nasty leg break, 43-year-old Djibril is now working as AJ Auxerre’s forward coach, all while helping the development of his son.
Djibril Cisse’s Son, Prince, Continues to Impress in Liverpool’s Academy Ranks
The 15-year-old has featured for the Reds at Under-18 level
In the 2024/25 campaign, which saw Liverpool’s senior side win their record-equalling 20th league title in Arne Slot’s maiden campaign, it also marked a special period of Prince’s ever-developing career as he looks to emulate what his father managed to do on the big stage.
Albeit in its infancy, Prince featured for Liverpool’s Under-18 side – managed by Marc Bridge-Wilkinson – as a first-year scholar the night before his father, an Istanbul hero, played for Liverpool Legends against their Chelsea counterparts.
In that game, when the youngster made his debut against ISI Academy, the Reds won 3-1 and, at 15 years of age, Prince is playing well above his age level – for both club and country. Spoiler alert: he's decided not to follow in his father's footsteps and play for France.
liverpool-academy-players Related
Ranking Liverpool's 7 Best Academy Players (2024)
Liverpool's academy has become one of the best in the country in recent years, with emerging talents such as Jarell Quansah and Conor Bradley.
At the time of writing, he represents Wales – thanks to his mother’s heritage – at Under-17 level and, with the right support system behind him, is poised to rise up the international ranks. According to Liverpool’s official website, the teen has been with the club since the tender age of six – and his positional versatility is something that stands out. His preference is to be deployed out wide, but – at Under-18 level – he’s often been used at right-back.
Primarily off the right-hand side, his minutes for the young Reds have been rather limited thus far due to rotation. His career has somewhat mimicked that of Trent Alexander-Arnold, who started off higher up the pitch but found solace in defence.
Since December 2024, the promising hotshot has played all of his Under-18 games as a right-back – and, according to AnfieldWatch, he's even filled in more centrally at the heart of defence against Leeds United's youngsters.
Irrespective of which position he is stationed in, what Prince brings is a bucketload of energy – and his attacking tendencies bode well as he marauds up the flank as if it’s going out of fashion. His high-octane approach is admirable.
Cisse’s Part to Play in Liverpool’s 2005 Champions League Triumph
The Frenchman – who represented Les Bleus on 41 different occasions, scoring nine goals – never returned to his goalscoring best after marking his Liverpool stint with two devastating leg breaks. Incredibly, he almost had his foot amputated.
Quite incredibly, Cisse – who was ranked as one of the beautiful game’s 100 best young players in 2001 – was able to defy the odds and return in the same season, having been thrown in the deep end: Liverpool’s Champions League final against the Rossoneri.
Perhaps to little to no surprise, the speedster replaced Milan Baros with just five minutes of one of the greatest Champions League finals of all time left to see out.
The Miracle of Istanbul is a memory enshrined in the club’s long and storied mythology – and Djibril has the medal to evidence his part to play. Seeing out the concluding five minutes was the tip of the iceberg as he was tasked with slotting home his penalty.
That he did with a calm and collected look on his face. Platinum-haired, the centre-forward made the well-trodden venture from the busy centre-circle to the much more lonely penalty spot with very little action in the tank and wrong-footed AC Milan’s Dida with ease.
It wasn’t long after that Djibril, who recorded 29 goal contributions (24 strikes and five assists) for the Premier League outfit, had moved onto pastures new. Not suited to life in England, he was loaned to Olympique Marseille in the summer of 2006 and then moved to his homeland permanently the following year.