Jürgen Klopp absolutely loves Liverpool Academy star who has been likened to Reds flop

Jürgen Klopp manager of Liverpool watching his players during the UEFA Europa League 2023/24 quarter-final first leg training and press conference at AXA Training Centre on April 10, 2024 in Liverpool, England.
One Academy youngster quickly grabbed Jürgen Klopp's attention in Liverpool training. -Credit:Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images


Liverpool's injury crisis in the middle portion of the season meant Jürgen Klopp was forced to call upon his youth players more than usual. The German boss had to do without several keys players in midfield and attack, and with the games arriving thick and fast, Klopp had to call up many academy products in order to fill the gaps.

The likes of Bobby Clark, Lewis Koumas, James McConnell and Jayden Danns all featured for Klopp in several games. Some of them started in the 3-0 FA Cup win against Southampton on February 28.

Danns came on as a substitute in the game but made his presence felt, scoring two goals to secure Liverpool's win and passage to the next round of the competition. The youngster had also previously featured in the Carabao Cup final win against Chelsea, again coming on late in the game and almost scoring on a couple of occasions.

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Danns hasn't featured since the win against Nottingham Forest on March 3, but the teenager has a very bright future in the game. He scored an incredible goal against Manchester United U21s recently, and Liverpool journalist Neil Jones sees similarities with former Liverpool striker Dominic Solanke.

“You look at Dominic Solanke, he reminds me a bit of. He’s got elements of that. He runs the channels really well. He’s in the penalty area you know," said Jones on Redmen TV.

“Even when he was in the first team, and look there’s a difference between when you’re dropped into the first team out of nowhere, and people are just like ‘woah who is this guy’ to when you’re part of it and people are like ‘right what are you going to do’?

“Apparently Jürgen [Klopp] is absolutely enamoured with him. He’s the one who has maybe along with Bobby Clark, they’re the ones who sort of come up into the first team and Jürgen's been like ‘pfft we’ll have him.’

“It would be very wise for Liverpool to consider all options around him as opposed to saying ‘right he’s 18 and you know we got this and that.’ He looks to me like someone that if he got a lucky break, he looks to me like he’s the kind of person who might be able to seize that opportunity in the first team squad.”

With Liverpool strikers misfiring as of late, Danns could be reintroduced back into the first team in order to bring back the goals. More likely, however, is that he stakes his claim under the new boss in pre-season.

Liverpool.com says: Even if Danns doesn't appear in the first team for the rest of the season, there's little doubt that he has a bright future, and Klopp holds a high opinion of the youngster. It would be nice to see him feature once or twice more before the end of the campaign, but much will depend on whether Liverpool is in the hunt for trophies for much longer.

The Solanke comparison is an interesting one. Obviously, things didn't work out at Liverpool, but he had the knack for getting into the right positions. The finishes have since followed at Bournemouth, where he is thriving.

From the little we've seen of Danns in the first team so far, he looks to already have the finishing, which stands him in good stead to succeed where Solanke was not quite ready. Time will tell just how far he can go.