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Liverpool results from top 100 teenagers in world football sparks debate

Jayden Danns of Liverpool celebrates after scoring their third goal during the Emirates FA Cup Fifth Round match between Liverpool and Southampton
-Credit: (Image: Getty Images)


The new CIES ranking of the top 100 teenagers in world football lacked a certain shade of Merseyside Red - no Liverpool players made the list.

CIES (the International Centre for Sports Studies) is a respected research organization based in Switzerland relied upon by many clubs for scouting and recruitment. They announced their metric for the rankings was based upon "The level of experience is calculated on the basis of last year’s official game minutes, weighted by the sporting level of matches played."

Is the lack of Liverpool players a reflection of the club's academy or the heavy minutes-based ranking system employed by CIES? After all, the Reds were in a hotly-contested title race for much of the 2023-24 Premier League season and couldn't afford time to give consistent minutes to teenagers.

The list was topped by Barcelona's Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsi, followed by Endrick of Real Madrid, Warren Zaire-Emery of PSG, and Kobbie Mainoo at Manchester United.

Mainoo topped the list of players at English clubs, followed by new Tottenham signing Archie Gray, Lewis Miley of Newcastle, Leny Yoro at Manchester United, and Jobe Bellingham at Sunderland.

The common thread here: most of these players featured heavily for their teams last year to varying degrees of success. Liverpool did not have a regular starter under the age of 21 during the 2023-24 campaign.

Lewis Koumas of Wales attacks with pressure from Arda Guler of Turkey during the UEFA Nations League 2024/25 League B Group B4 match between Wales and Türkiye
Lewis Koumas, currently on loan at Stoke City and pictured here for Wales, could quickly emerge as Liverpool's most talented teenager

What Liverpool players should have cracked the list? 18-year-old Ben Doak, currently on loan at Middlesbrough, ranked 39th (and ahead of Gray) in Goal.com's NXGN March rankings of the best players born in 2005 or later.

18-year-old Jayden Danns, who lit up the Kop with two goals against Southampton in the FA Cup Fifth Round last year, ranked 44th in FourFourTwo's August rankings of the 50 most exciting teenager's in world football

Liverpool also has a slew of recent graduates who would certainly be included if the parameters were expanded to the best players 21 or under, such as Harvey Elliott (21), Jarrell Quansah (21), and Conor Bradley (21).

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Who are some other big omissions? It's hard to imagine that 19-year-old Stefan Bajectic, currently on loan at RB Salzburg, is only off the list because he missed the majority of last year injured. He was starting as the single-pivot ahead of Fabinho for Liverpool in both the Premier and Champions League in 2022-23.

Talented 18-year-old forward Lewis Koumas has started the new season on fire for his loan club Stoke City, contributing an impressive 0.89 npXG+xA per 90 minutes in three campaigns. He even started for the Wales senior team on the wing in their most recent UEFA Nations League fixture against Montenegro.

Who could be the next great Liverpool teenager to break through? Our picks would be 17-year-old attacking midfielder Try Nyoni and 18-year-old American striker Keyrol Figeroa.