Loan arrival at New Lawn from Premier League champions
12:29, 28 Aug 2025Updated 12:33, 28 Aug 2025
James Balagizi
James Balagizi
Forest Green Rovers have signed midfielder James Balagizi from Liverpool on a season-long loan deal.
The talented youngster has been with the Reds since Under-11s and signed a first professional deal with the club in September 2020 and more recently an extension in the 2023/24 campaign.
An England youth international, Balagizi has been a regular in the U-18 and U-21 teams and starred in the young Reds side who reached the FA Youth Cup final in 2020/21.
He was also among the substitutes for the senior team during the 2021/22 campaign.
The 21-year-old has also enjoyed loan spells at Wigan Athletic, Kilmarnock and Crawley Town.
On his signing, director of football Mark Bowen said: "James is a top talent and we're delighted to be able to attract a player of his ability to the football club in amongst fighting off interest from clubs higher up the pyramid.
"We're incredibly thankful to Liverpool for allowing us to aid his development and add more quality to our squad here at Forest Green
"He can play in a number of positions across the midfield and has an excellent passing range to help build from the back. He's also able to provide powerful forward runs to help the team as a whole."
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Manager Robbie Savaged added: "It's another great bit of recruitment for the club and shows yet more incredible backing from Dale (Vince) and Asif (Rehmanwala). We're delighted to add James to the squad."
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