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Harvey Elliott was amazed by Liverpool teenager Jayden Danns' performance in their 3-0 win in the fifth round of the FA Cup against Southampton on February 28.
Danns came on as a substitute in the 63rd minute for fellow academy graduate Lewis Koumas. The latter had already scored earlier in the game on his senior debut to make it 1-0 for the Reds at Anfield.
Danns first latched onto a ball from Elliott before calmly slotting it into the back of the net to extend Liverpool's advantage. He then showed his incredible attacking positioning and instinct, being the first to react to a parried shot from Conor Bradley to tap it into an empty net.
Despite being only 20 years of age, Elliott has already made over 100 appearances for Liverpool, with eight goals and eight assists to his name. He has already established himself as a key member of Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool squad.
Being an experienced campaigner himself, he was left awestruck by the newcomer Danns' performance. In an interview with ITV Sport, he said:
“Ever since this man (Danns) came on this season, he’s been amazing.”
Danns himself was left speechless at full-time, saying that it was "a dream come true", and that he "feels like he's in a movie". He has now scored twice in his three senior appearances.
Klopp has brought up a whole host of talent into the senior squad in the 2023-24 season, and most of them have stepped up to the plate. The likes of Jarell Quansah and Conor Bradley have already established themselves as important members of the first team.
Caoimhin Kelleher 'not surprised' by the instant impact of Liverpool's youth players
Liverpool goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher has claimed that he was 'not surprised' by the instant impact provided by the Reds' burgeoning group of young talent.
Speaking on the club website, Kelleher praised the youngsters' work ethic. He added that the senior players and the managers already knew of their incredible potential after seeing them in training. He said:
“[I am] massively impressed, but I’m not surprised either, to be honest. They’ve been up training with us a lot and I can see the potential that they have. I’m obviously really happy for them. They deserve this moment, but I’m not too surprised because they’ve shown that great potential already in training.”
Mostly serving as a backup to Alisson Becker, Kelleher has found himself in the thick of things this season. This came after the Brazilian suffered a hamstring injury which will keep him sidelined till March.
He has made the most of his chances. He kept a clean sheet in the EFL Cup final against Chelsea and against Southampton in the FA Cup in the space of four days.
With such incredible depth and quality in the Liverpool academy, they haven't felt the absence of as many as 13 first-team players due to injury.
