Where are they now? The 3 Liverpool wonderkids tipped for stardom by The Guardian in 2018
The Liverpool academy has produced plenty of gems over the years, but what happened to the three Liverpool kids that The Guardian tipped for stardom in 2018?
For every Steven Gerrard or Trent Alexander-Arnold, there are numerous examples of Liverpool youngsters who don’t quite make the grade at Anfield.
In 2018, The Guardian came out with a list of the 60 most promising youngsters in world football. Three of the players selected were from Liverpool and we’ve checked out where they each are today.
Curtis Jones
Undoubtedly, the best pick of the bunch. Back in 2018, Jones had only just signed his first professional contract with the club after progressing through the youth ranks.
Fast forward to 2024 and he’s now a key performer in Jurgen Klopp’s side. Since being handed his first chance in January 2019, he’s gone on to make 125 appearances for the club and has won six trophies in that time.
“We all know how good a player Curtis is, he’s technically incredibly skilled, but he finds more and more direction in his dribbling, he gets better out of situations,” Klopp told Sky Sports earlier this year.
“And his pressing, counter-pressing, meanwhile, he sets the level, actually, how it should look. I’m really happy with that. It keeps every player in the game.”
With a contract at Anfield which runs until 2027, we’re in no doubt that there’s still more to come from the 23-year-old in a Liverpool shirt.
Yasser Larouci
The Algerian international spent four years on the books at Liverpool, but he only managed two senior appearances before he left the club at the end of the 2020–21 campaign.
Larouci himself snubbed a contract extension at Liverpool because of the lack of first-team opportunities at the club.
“Playing regularly has always been my principal objective,” the full-back wrote on Instagram upon leaving the club in 2021.
“I decided against extending my contract at Liverpool as it was clear that there would be limited opportunities to play regularly in the first team in the immediate future.”
Since moving away from Liverpool, Larouci has gathered plenty of experience. He built his CV up with Troyes in Ligue 1 and is now on loan with Sheffield United.
His opportunities for the Blades have been fairly limited as he’s only made four Premier League starts up until this point. Sheffield United do have the option to purchase the 23-year-old, but it seems unlikely they will take up this option.
Edvard Tagseth
The Reds picked up Tagseth from the Neset academy when he was just 14 years old. He continued to progress in Liverpool’s youth ranks up until 2019 when he made the decision to return to Norway.
Despite being offered a pro contract by Liverpool, Tagseth turned it down in favour of joining Norwegian outfit Rosenborg BK.
“I just think it felt so right to go to RBK when I had been there and trained and had it so good,” Tagseth told VG in 2021. “Almost no matter what kind of offer I had received, it was 100 per cent safe in my head.”
He’s done well for himself since leaving Liverpool, having racked up over 100 appearances for Rosenborg. Still just 23 years old, he’s got plenty of football ahead of him yet.
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