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How Liverpool’s 11 FM23 wonderkids have developed IRL in 2022-23

Liverpool have had a turbulent season up until this point, but Jurgen Klopp now seems to have his side heading in the right direction once again.

Since Klopp’s arrival at Anfield back in 2015 he has handed out plenty of opportunities to Liverpool’s young stars and has allowed them to develop under his management.

We’ve gone through Liverpool’s 11 wonderkids on Football Manager 2023 and have assessed how they are developing and progressing in real life.

Sepp van den Berg

The Dutch defender was a popular figure at Preston North End last season during his loan spell in the Championship and he is currently out on loan with Schalke 04 in the Bundesliga.

Unfortunately, the 21-year-old suffered serious ligament damage back in September and he has been ruled out for the foreseeable future.

The defender told Revier Sport: “People say it looked bad, but I’m trying to forget that. If I thought about it too much, I might get a little scared of it happening again.

“Sure, my ankle was swollen and looking bad, but I felt like I could get back into training soon. Mentally, I hadn’t flipped the switch yet. Since then, my entire focus has been on getting back into team training.”

Fabio Carvalho

Due to an accumulation of injuries this season, Carvalho has had plenty of first-team opportunities for Liverpool and he has showcased several glimpses of what he is capable of.

In 17 appearances for Klopp’s side this season he has scored three goals and has proved to be a useful player who can play in several different positions.

Billy Koumetio

Koumetio has made two first-team appearances for Liverpool under Klopp and is currently out on loan with Austria Wien. The French defender has had a somewhat difficult loan spell with the Austrian club so far.

Having started the season in the starting 11, Koumetio has only made a handful of appearances since September. His lack of action has prompted rumours of Liverpool recalling him in January.

Conor Bradley

The teenage defender is having a superb loan spell with League One promotion-chasing Bolton Wanderers. Bradley has scored six goals already this season as well as providing three assists.

After scoring the opening goal against Exeter the defender told Wanderers’ official YouTube channel: “It’s something the gaffer always says to me, to get in at that back post [and] try to get across defenders, and if I get a chance take it away and thankfully I did today.

“I didn’t think I’d get as many chances as I do. Six goals halfway through the season is good, but hopefully I can get more than six in the next half of the season and keep pushing on.”

Calvin Ramsay

Liverpool fans will have high hopes for Ramsey who joined the club in the summer for £4.2million from Aberdeen. Since his arrival in the summer the defender has featured in two matches for Liverpool, including a cameo in the Champions League.

Tyler Morton

Morton is currently enjoying his first loan spell away from Liverpool with Championship club Blackburn Rovers. The midfielder has featured in the vast majority of their games this season.

Liverpool have a well-established relationship with Blackburn after the successful loan spell that Harvey Elliott had with the club back in 2020-21.

READ: Where are they now? Liverpool’s 6 Football Manager 2012 wonderkids

Stefan Bajcetic

Bajcetic scored his first-ever goal for Liverpool during their 3-1 victory against Aston Villa on Boxing Day. The 18-year-old was brought on as a second-half substitute and took his goal well.

The youngster told the Liverpool website: “I saw Darwin running and I thought, ‘OK I have to go there.’ The ball came to me and I didn’t know what to do – I’m not used to scoring goals!

“I saw the long ball, I know how fast Darwin is and I know how good he is, so I knew he was going to get something on that ball. So I just got into the box, the ball came and I just scored.”

Harvey Elliott

Now a regular for the first team, Elliott continues to impress at Liverpool. The 19-year-old has featured in 24 matches for Klopp’s side this season and has scored three goals so far.

Klopp has been quick to praise the youngster this season: “First and foremost he is a wonderfully-raised boy,” Klopp explained via the Mirror. “He is young as well, apart from in his behaviour, and when you see him playing as well, you think ‘wow for a 19-year-old…’

“It is all where he is coming from and how he was raised. Since he is here from the first day the players really took him under their wings. He didn’t get treated like a 17, 18 or now like a 19-year-old boy, that is why he is in the middle of everything.

“We all forgot how good he was a year ago and he was a year younger before all the rubbish things happened. That’s the case, he is just that good.”

Ben Doak

Doak made his Premier League debut for Liverpool on Boxing Day and it’s fair to say that he made quite an impression during his brief cameo. He left Lucas Digne for dead with this cheeky spin.

Kaide Gordon

Gordon is continuing to recover from an injury which has kept him out of action since February. Liverpool assistant Pepijn Lijnders recently gave an update on the 18-year-olds fitness.

He told the club website: “[We] didn’t mention him in a long time, he went with us to Dubai and started running [for the] first time.

“We know with these long-term injuries, where there is a lot of uncertainty, that he deserves a mention as well because the boy is very professional and gives everything. I just hope we can see him back without putting pressure on the boy.

“It’s great to see him on the pitch [and] just to tell him as well that we didn’t forget him. Even when new boys are coming up and flying and making big steps, we never will forget the old young ones, basically.”

Bobby Clark

17-year-old Clark made his Premier League debut for Liverpool this season during their 9-0 hammering of Bournemouth. The youngster made quite the impression during their mid-season break as he provided this wonderful assist for Darwin Nunez against AC Milan.


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