Liverpool announce 18-year-old player is leaving on loan 13 hours after deadline closes

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Liverpool may have been quiet over the January transfer window, but they were still active even beyond yesterday’s deadline.

The Reds chose to hold what they have for the rest of the season. With Jurgen Klopp set to depart at the end of the campaign, summer signing Ryan Gravenberch will be his last transfer at Liverpool.

Although there was nothing truly significant happening at Anfield yesterday, there were still a couple of departures to report. Centre-back Billy Koumetio was one, leaving to spend the rest of the term at Blackburn Rovers.

The other was only announced on liverpoolfc.com at 12pm today, a full 13 hours after the deadline had passed.

The player in question is 18-year-old goalkeeper Reece Trueman. Having joined the club from Norwich City in 2022, Trueman now heads out on his first loan spell – to Welsh Premier side Colwyn Bay. Best of luck, Reece!

Trueman heads out on loan

In the Reds stable of young goalkeeping talent, Trueman is not one who has been mentioned all that often.

18 is still very young for a goalkeeper though, so there’s plenty of time for him to make his mark.

On the face of it, this move would look a bit of a strange one. With all due respect, Colwyn Bay’s level is way, way below that of the senior team at Liverpool.

If a potential first-team talent were heading out there for a stint, then you’d probably deduce that they’d have next to no chance of making it at Anfield.

But with goalkeepers, things are a little bit different. The remit must simply be to get as many games as possible, no matter the level.

Youth team football is very different from men’s football. For now, it’s important that Trueman gets used to the physicality needed to be a goalkeeper in the senior game.

We saw Liverpool do something quite similar with Marcelo Pitaluga last year.

The Brazilian had a decent time at non-league Macclesfield FC before now joining League of Ireland Premier Division side St Patrick’s Athletic. Although we haven’t seen him in the first-team yet, Pitaluga will be better for that.

So, good luck to young Reece, we’ll be keeping an eye on his progress over the rest of the season.