by Jayden Danns, Lewis Koumas and Bobby Clark: remember the names. But you might already recognize them – and not because the three teenagers turned out for Liverpool on Wednesday night, with Danns scoring twice and Koumas netting his debut in a 3-0 fifth-round win over Southampton of the FA Cup.
All three have famous fathers and are the sons of Neil Danns, Jason Koumas and Lee Clark respectively, former Premier League professionals. If this feels significant, it’s not exclusive to Liverpool – Manchester City have the Heskey twins, Jaden and Reigan, in their academy and Manchester United have Darren’s sons Jack and Tyler Fletcher – but it seems that an academy Liverpool have a cluster of prospects with paternal connections. Keyrol Figueroa, son of former Wigan Mayo defender, and Prince Kobe Cissé, son of 2005 Champions League winner Djibril, are also making their way there, while Marcus Neill, son of former Australian international Lucas, has recently joined into Sunderland. .
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What is behind this trend at Liverpool? Alex Inglethorpe, the club’s legendary academy director, tells the Guardian that signing the children of ex-professionals is not a “strategy” but a confluence of several factors.
“If ex-players settle in the area, the club may be an obvious point of contact for them,” says Inglethorpe. “It is a natural assumption, as the son of a former player, that they will grow up in a football environment and may be interested in the sport. That means, combined with athletic genes, since their father was able to play professional football, it’s no wonder they end up being good. But we have between 160-180 boys in the academy, so it’s a small percentage of the people we have.”
Figueroa is likely to be the next player on this list to try and force his way into Jürgen Klopp’s plans. The 17-year-old forward, who like his father was born in Honduras but is an international youth from the USA, is with the under-18s. Cissé, who is also a representative, is only 15, so it is unlikely that he will join Danns, Koumas and Clark in the first team this season.
“I talk to [those five] regularly, on and off the field,” says Inglethorpe. “If they don’t want to talk about their fathers, I try not to mention it because I think it can be a burden. I don’t want to add to the burden they probably have in their own minds about achieving the same or more than their fathers did. They are people in their own right.”
Inglethorpe describes the junior academy – aged eight to 13 – as “a really good Sunday League club. Great pitches, the coaches are very good, the kit is beautiful! But at the senior academy, things are different. How you prepare a boy at 14 changes at that age with details and nutrition. The messages change.”
Perhaps with the sons of famous footballers, messages are already embedded? Perhaps there is a basic understanding of what it takes to make it at the elite level, and the sacrifices required in terms of fitness, rest, social plans and nutrition? “I’m glad they’re just young players, young lads,” replied Inglethorpe. “Jayden is from ‘pre-academy’, when he was six or seven. Figgy joined at 11-12 years old, from community football. Bobby joined us at 16, via Newcastle. It’s nice that they all have a slightly different story.”
Clark’s move from Newcastle caused headlines, with Liverpool splashing £1.5m on the midfielder. His father, Lee, explained how Liverpool sealed the deal. “When Bobby decided to leave Newcastle, he had talks with four or five clubs who agreed [a fee] with Newcastle,” Lee told the Echo last year. “He was overwhelmed by the depth of Liverpool’s knowledge of him … why they believed he could be a first-team player. He has also seen close friends of ours like Terry McDermott since he was a young lad and understood what Liverpool means.”
The story of how Clark came to Liverpool appears to be indirectly related to his father but Inglethorpe says Lee was “not involved” in contract negotiations. “He was there as a father, but he was very respectful. If your son goes and works in a bank tomorrow, you are not meeting the bank manager, asking him if he will be on the tills or somewhere in the back, are you? There comes a time when you have to let them be.
“I don’t know those five [sons of former players] are they any better equipped to handle the demands of modern football. I’ve always believed that talent can take you to 16, character can take you to 35. To get into the Liverpool XI, competing for domestic and European trophies, the level is unbelievably high . Keep working hard, try not to look at other people, and stay patient. The same as any other boy, regardless of his parentage.”
Regardless of lineage, the role of parents for young players is extremely important. “Most of the parents we work with are respectful, in terms of trusting the coaches’ decisions,” says Inglethorpe. “Of course, not every parent is happy. But most also understand that it is difficult. It is not based on data. At school, you can take an exam and pass a percentage of that exam. It is not up for debate. But football is speculation, and there are many crystal balls looking at how that boy could play in the future. And we are going to get it wrong sometimes.
“Trent [Alexander-Arnold]His parents were not professional footballers but he received many messages about resilience. I read an interview from Robin van Persie, who talked about a conversation he had with his son [Shaqueel, at PSV’s academy] about not letting him be a victim. Not letting his son think like a loser, not blaming anyone else: his coach or his teammates. About learning to be proactive. That was very interesting.”
Another person who remains proactive is Klopp. It may take a village to raise and coach a young professional footballer to elite level, but Klopp’s level of confidence in those teenagers – even in some of the biggest games of the season – feels unique.
“I’m very lucky to be at Liverpool at a time when there are a lot of first-team squads with real curiosity and enthusiasm around the young players,” says Inglethorpe. “His team will talk to Jürgen, he will go to see those players, he will talk about those players and what separates him: he will play those young players. He’s brave enough to give them a chance, and not just in games that don’t matter.”
