Teenaged pair Isaac Mabaya and Stefan Bajcetic are continuing to train with the Liverpool first-team at the AXA Training Centre.
Liverpool’s two 17-year-old’s were impressive during the recently completed tour of Asia.
As a result, while some of their peers were seemingly back with the underage groups yesterday, they were sticking with the seniors. After taking an enlarged squad to Thailand and Singapore, Jurgen Klopp looks to have whittled down his options.
For Bajcetic and Mabaya, that could be good news. Others, such as Luke Chambers, Leighton Clarkson and James Norris, didn’t appear to be present after returning last week.
Youngsters take their chances
Pre-season is always a time for managers to take a look at any talented youngsters who may be hiding in the academy. It’s a fine balance between getting your first-team fit and running the rule over any prospects.
More often than not, most young players will return back to the academy. But every so often you get a Trent Alexander-Arnold who you simply can’t ignore.
It isn’t that either Mabaya or Bajcetic have the potential of Liverpool’s right-back, but they both looked good in Asia.
Tyler Morton and Sepp van den Berg were also retained. Both have been in-and-around the first-team though, and are at least two years older than Mabaya and Bajcetic. It could mean nothing, but it looks like a good step for the pair.
Klopp splits the squad in two
Of course one reason for the young duo’s inclusion yesterday was the need to bulk out the squad.
Klopp looks to have allowed the late returners, i.e. those players on international duty at the end of the season, to take some time off from training for now.
That means that the likes of Mohamed Salah, Virgil Van Dijk, Thiago Alcantara and Fabinho weren’t present, or were in the gym.
But these youngsters need to take every opportunity they can, regardless of the circumstances. A real test will be whether either are included for Liverpool’s imminent training camp in Austria. If they are, they could be in business.
Meanwhile, here’s a few more shots from yesterday’s session in the Liverpool sunshine.
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