Coach says ‘excellent’ Liverpool youngster is doing something he’s never seen from a 16-year-old 

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Amara Nallo is the youngest centre-back to shine in Liverpool’s youth team against more senior opposition.

Nallo signed from West Ham United with a big reputation this summer. Having initially started in the U18s, the 16-year-old centre-back has now become a fixture in the U21s.

For someone several years younger than some of his teammates, that’s already impressive. But more than that, U21s coach Barry Lewtas has told liverpoolfc.com that Nallo is really standing out, too.

“Amara was excellent,” Lewtas said, after the academy drew with Benfica on Sunday. “Him and Carter Pinnington have been playing quite regularly for us so far together.

“Listen, he [Nallo] is just 16, and I don’t think we’ve ever asked a lad that young to play at centre-back against senior opposition.

“He should be really proud of his performance. I think the main thing for Amara is he played ever so well but he didn’t let any kind of mistakes or momentum shifts in the game affect him.

“So he didn’t play like a 16-year-old, that’s for sure.”

Nallo starting to shine at Liverpool

It’s still early days for Nallo at Liverpool, so we shouldn’t be getting carried away with him. Nevertheless, Lewtas’ words are really encouraging.

He’s absolutely right, too. It isn’t often at all that you see such a young centre-back excelling against older opposition.

Liverpool clearly have something of a plan for Nallo. If they didn’t, it’s unlikely they would have brought him in from West Ham.

They’ve seen enough to go out and nab him from a Premier League rival’s academy and that would suggest that they see him as someone who could challenge for a first-team spot in the future. So far, the signs are very good that that is indeed something in the cards for Nallo.

But again, caution should be exercised. While Lewtas’ admission highlights the trust Nallo already has a 16-year-old, it also shows that centre-backs don’t often break through at such a young age.

As a result, anyone expecting to see the defender in the senior side in the near future is likely to be disappointed.

Jarell Quansah has had to wait until 20 before getting a sniff of the first-team, there’s really no rush for Nallo. But when the time does come, it looks like Liverpool could have another one ready to go.