Where are they now? The nine 16-year-olds to debut for Liverpool
Rio Ngumoha has become the youngest-ever player to feature for Liverpool in the FA Cup, and one of only nine players to represent the famous club at the age of 16.
The prodigiously talented attacker played 72 minutes as Arne Slot’s Reds swotted aside Accrington Stanley with a 4-0 victory in the third round.
But what does such an opportunity mean for his future credentials? We’ve checked in on the nine players to play for Liverpool as young as 16, how their careers have panned out, and where they are today.
Jack Robinson
The youngest player to represent Liverpool in the Premier League, Robinson was 16 years, eight months and eight days old when Rafael Benitez brought him off the bench on the final day of the cursed 2009-10 campaign, a 0-0 dead rubber away to Hull City.
He remained on the club’s books until 2014 but only made a further 10 appearances, most of them in cup competitions.
While the Sheffield United defender, now 31, never made it Anfield, he’s enjoyed a respectable career with over 200 appearances in the top two tiers of English football.
Jerome Sinclair
Still Liverpool’s youngest-ever debutant in all competitions, Sinclair famously made his bow for Brendan Rodgers’ Reds just six days after his 16th birthday, in a 2-1 League Cup victory away to West Brom in September 2012.
He was a late substitute for Samed Yesil (remember him? Us neither), but only made a further four appearances in all competitions. He did at least mark one of them with a goal in a 2-2 FA Cup draw with Exeter City before departing the club when his contract expired in 2016.
Sinclair joined Watford as a free agent but never quite kicked on to reach his potential, and hasn’t played professionally since 2021, when a fifth and final loan away to CSKA Sofia never worked out.
The 28-year-old does give us one of the great post-playing “where are they now?” answers, though, as the owner of a branch of fried chicken chain Morley’s. Lovely stuff.
READ: Where are they now? The last 6 Liverpool players sold by Brendan Rodgers
Ki-Jana Hoever
The Dutch defender left Ajax’s academy to continue his development at Melwood back in 2018 and was subsequently talked up as one that had the potential to make it under Jurgen Klopp.
However, he only spent two seasons with the club and never played for them in the Premier League. After making his debut against Wolves in the FA Cup third round in 2019, he only went on to make a further three appearances for Liverpool before moving permanently to Molineux the following year.
Hoever featured intermittently for Wolves in his first couple of seasons but has spent the last few years in a series of loans away – PSV, Stoke and (currently) Auxerre.
Harvey Elliott
Where does the time go?
We’re still waiting to see whether Elliott will ever nail down a regular starting spot as part of Arne Slot’s best XI, but he’s played over a hundred games for the Reds since his debut as a 16-year-old in a League Cup clash with MK Dons in September 2019.
James Norris
Norris was part of the young Liverpool side that Klopp fielded in the 5-0 League Cup defeat to Aston Villa back in December 2019, when most of the senior team were away at the Club World Cup.
He’s only made one first-team appearance since then and was sent out on loan to local League Two outfit Tranmere Rovers last term. Now he’s back with his parent club and kicking on with the Under-21s, which he’s been named on Slot’s bench in a couple of cup games so far this season.
READ MORE: 5 Liverpool academy graduates who have flopped after leaving Anfield
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Kaide Gordon
Nabbed from Derby County when he was just a nipper, Gordon went on to make his debut for Liverpool about a month before his 17th birthday in a comfortable 3-0 League Cup victory over Norwich City in 2021.
The exciting young forwarded completed 90 minutes and caught the eye with his dynamism, evidently impressing Norwich, who have picked him up on loan for the 2024-25 campaign.
Unfortunately Gordon’s early career was stunted with injuries but he’s now easing back into first-team action. Nine of his 10 Championship appearances for the Canaries this season have come off the bench, but he did score in a 4-0 victory over Hull.
Ben Doak
The Scottish Messi is thriving on loan at Middlesbrough this season, his first regular taste of senior first-team football.
Crystal Palace have reportedly tested the Reds’ resolve with a January offer, while it remains to be seen whether they’ll be back with an improved bid.
It would be a bit disappointing if Liverpool cash in on the 19-year-old before they’ve given him a proper chance, with only 10 outings for the club since his 2022 League Cup debut against Derby.
Trey Nyoni
Nyoni was talked up as a future star when Liverpool raided Leicester City’s academy back in the summer of 2023.
Klopp handed the midfielder his debut in last season’s 3-0 FA Cup victory over Southampton and he’s gone on to feature on the fringes under Slot this season. He doesn’t turn 18 until the summer and is on the right trajectory.