With seven first-choice starters left at home and eight changes made to the starting lineup, it was a very different cast but the same outcome for Liverpool as they beat Southampton in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals – on another night that showed not only the value of their academy but also the quality of their youth recruitment.
By Jack Lusby, ThisIsAnfield.com
Trey Nyoni, the prodigious 17-year-old midfielder signed from Leicester in 2023 before shooting up the ranks, made his first start while another recent addition, 16-year-old former Chelsea winger Rio Ngumoha, made the bench for the first time.
There was a return to first-team action for Jayden Danns and James McConnell, both brought on from the bench, while regulars Caoimhin Kelleher and Jarell Quansah made their latest outings as staples of Arne Slot’s squad.
While the likes of Nyoni, Danns and, despite going unused, Ngumoha drew the attention as popular names among those with a keen eye on Liverpool’s academy, another homegrown talent went about his night with little fuss.
That player was Tyler Morton, the 22-year-old from Wallasey, a town over the River Mersey in the Wirral – basically, as close to Liverpool as you can get without being from Liverpool.
Part of the Reds’ academy setup since the age of seven, Morton has been involved with the first team for over three years, making his senior debut in the Carabao Cup victory over Norwich back in September 2021.
Loan spells with Blackburn and Hull in the last two seasons have established his status as a player capable of performing week in, week out at a high level, only enhanced by his experience training with many of the world’s best players at Liverpool.
But while considered a full-time member of Slot’s first-team squad, there remains a sense that Morton’s long-term future will not be at Anfield.
That was only underlined on Wednesday night, as the combative midfielder produced an outstanding display that saw him start as a deep-lying midfielder before shifting to an unnatural role of right-back upon Trent Alexander-Arnold‘s withdrawal at half-time.
Morton served as a composed outlet in possession, crisp in his passing with more than a hint of former teammate Thiago‘s influence showing, while reacting strongly to the physical battle as he used his body well despite its nimble frame.
Really, such a display should warrant him more opportunities in the coming weeks and months – if it weren’t for the calibre on players ahead of him.
Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones were all given the night off in midweek, while Alexis Mac Allister almost certainly would have been joined them had the Argentine not just come back from an enforced two-week break due to suspension.
Add Harvey Elliott and Wataru Endo – match-winner and arguably Man of the Match at St Mary’s respectively – into the mix and Slot has six top-level options for three roles in his midfield; at least two, in Gravenberch and Mac Allister, who can be considerable undroppable.
“The thing for them is it’s not about easily playing at this level, you have to compete with Mo and Virgil and all these kinds of players,” Slot told journalists after the game when asked about the input of his academy players against Southampton.
“It’s not enough to be good enough to play at this level, you have to be good enough to play for Liverpool, and that is probably the next step they have to make.
“But they’ve shown today that these players are capable of playing at Premier League level, that’s for sure.”
While for the likes of Nyoni and Danns, still only 17 and 18 respectively, that may have served as encouragement for the future, for Morton, who turned 22 in October and is therefore registered as a senior player in both league and Champions League, it may have been a reminder of a tough decision ahead.
It appears as though the player himself was set to make that decision months ago, with Morton attracting interest from RB Leipzig, Feyenoord, Atalanta, Eintracht Frankfurt, Sevilla, Ipswich, Bournemouth and Southampton.
The most serious option was Xabi Alonso‘s Bayer Leverkusen, with an offer to take the midfielder on loan for the 2024/25 – but that was rejected, with Liverpool seemingly only willing to consider permanent bids in the region of £20 million.
While turning down that offer may have indicated the club’s faith in Morton, that they were open to approaches in the first place highlights where he stands in the pecking order.
Slot is right that Morton has proved he can comfortably play at Premier League level – you only need to have watched him cleverly shield the ball out of danger and shimmy into promising positions at St Mary’s on Wednesday night to appreciate that.
But that he has still played more than twice the amount of minutes for Liverpool’s U21s (348) than he has the first team (162) this season shows he is unlikely to do so by staying at Anfield.
There would be no shame in leaving, either – former teammates Harry Wilson and Neco Williams, now of Fulham and Nottingham Forest respectively, can attest to that.
A move to an upwardly mobile club such as Bournemouth or a horizon-broadening transfer to Germany, Spain, Italy or the Netherlands should be the perfect step for a player of Morton’s proven quality and vast potential.
The only pity is that the right opportunity hasn’t landed for him at his boyhood club.
(Images from IMAGO)
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