Liverpool wonderkid cements exciting journey under Klopp with first professional contract

Kaide Gordon, Max Woltman Liverpool v AC Milan, September 2021

Liverpool have announced that youngster Kaide Gordon has signed his first professional contract at the club.

The 17-year-old, who only celebrated his birthday on Tuesday, has already turned heads at Anfield. Indeed, he made his first-team debut aged 16 in the recent Carabao Cup win over Norwich.

Before that, Gordon joined Liverpool from Derby in February and slotted into the Under-18s side.

From there, he scored six goals and assisted three others before the season came to a close.

As a result, he stepped up to Under-23s level for the first time at the end of last term. Gordon duly capped his 19-minute cameo with a goal in a 2-0 win over Leicester.

This season, he has started the season at Under-23 level and has directly contributed to three goals in three games.

His first professional contract comes as a product of all those factors, but also because of his role in pre-season this summer.

Gordon played 120 minutes across three games in the build-up to Liverpool’s campaign and he caught the eye of assistant manager Pep Lijnders.

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Indeed, the coach revealed how he alerted boss Jurgen Klopp to the teenager’s talents.

“About Kaide, before pre-season we always make sure that our biggest talents, or our talents, start a week earlier than we start, so they start with the U23s training,” Lijnders said.

“So I went to watch U23s training and I see one player and he has fire in each moment he touched the ball!

“He passes players like they are not standing there, so I call Jurgen [Klopp] immediately like, ‘Wow, we have a new player here!”

Gordon has Mohamed Salah likeness

Liverpool's Kaide Gordon against Norwich

After his first-team debut for Liverpool, one pundit claimed that Gordon possesses a likeness to star first-teamer Mohamed Salah.

Grant Holt said after watching his performance: “His movements, the way he moves, he’s a bit like Mo Salah the way he goes down the line.

“He can take you inside, he can take you outside.

“He’s got that movement about him. If you’re in a football club like Liverpool and you’ve got Salah and [Sadio] Mane in those positions and you’ve someone like him looking at them, watching them, training round them, his pathway’s going to be great.”

Gordon could make another Liverpool appearance when the Reds face Preston in the next round of the Carabao Cup later this month.


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