Liverpool have one of the best youth academies in England, and now according to reports, Fulham want to sign right-back graduate Neco Williams after a short-term loan spell at the Cottagers last season.
The newly-promoted Premier League side are ready to bid £10m for the youngster after an impressive spell in west London earlier this year, and Liverpool could reportedly be open to selling Williams despite the current lack of cover for Trent Alexander-Arnold.
Indeed, Liverpool have produced some of the best talents in the game from their academy, with Steven Gerrard and the aforementioned Alexander-Arnold the two standout examples from this century. Yet the Scouse duo are far from the only exceptional products.
With Fulham preparing to sign Williams, here are five Liverpool academy graduates who shined in football after leaving Merseyside, with the Welsh defender set to join this list this summer should everything go to plan.
Peter Gulacsi
Liverpool have had some surprising names come through their academy when you dig a little bit under the surface, and Peter Gulacsi firmly sits in this camp, with the RB Leipzig keeper arguably one of the best in his position in Europe.
The 49-cap Hungary international joined Liverpool as a teenager and spent his entire career on Merseyside out on loan, before Gulacsi was snapped up by RB Salzburg in 2013, and since then, the shot-stopper has continued to develop, with the 32-year-old one of the best keepers on the continent.
Conor Coady
Merseyside born-and-bred, Conor Coady came through Liverpool’s academy before moving on to Huddersfield Town in 2014, where one year later the defender was signed by Wolves, where his footballing story really begins.
The centre-back has been instrumental to the Molineux side ever since joining seven years ago, with Coady now the club captain and a regular with the England national squad, with the 29-year-old one of the most consistent defenders in the Premier League since Wolves’ return in 2018.
Raheem Sterling
Signed from Queens Park Rangers for £2m at just 15 years old in 2010, Raheem Sterling developed into one of Liverpool’s most important players after breaking into the first team in 2012, with the attacker becoming a full England international one year later.
As we know, though, Manchester City were quick to snap up the Liverpool star in 2015 for a then-English record of £49m, where Sterling has since become one of the best wingers in world football and a four-time Premier League winner with Pep Guardiola’s side.
Ryan Kent
After mediocre loan spells at SC Freiberg and Bristol City, not much was made of Ryan Kent joining Rangers for the season to reunite with Steven Gerrard. However, it quickly became apparent that the winger was something special at Ibrox.
An incredible year in Glasgow saw Rangers sign Kent on a permanent deal in 2019, with the 24-year-old now one of the best players in Scotland and reportedly linked with a move to the Premier League following another outstanding year with the Gers under Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
Harry Wilson
Harry Wilson had long been touted as a superstar in the making for Liverpool, and after leaving his boyhood club for good last summer for Fulham, early signs suggest that the Reds have let go of a gem.
The Wales international was instrumental in Fulham’s return to the Premier League, with Williams playing in the same XI in the second half of the season, and with Wilson set for a key role in the coming months, the playmaker has a chance to show Liverpool how wrong they were to offload the 25-year-old.
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