'I played for Liverpool's first team at 16 - now I own fried-chicken takeaway'

Former Liverpool wonderkid Jerome Sinclair made his debut for the Reds aged just 16 but over a decade on from his maiden appearance he is without a club and has embarked on a new chapter as a fast food takeaway owner.

The forward established his reputation as one of the country's most promising talents while coming through the ranks at the club's academy after joining from West Bromwich Albion in 2011. Remarkably, he made his first team debut aged just 16 years and 6 days over a year later - making him the youngest ever player to play for the Merseysiders.

However, the England youth international failed to establish himself as a regular in the Anfield senior set-up, making just four more appearances for the club before his departure in 2016. Leaving the club for a fee of £4 million ($5m), his departure came after a contract stand-off with Liverpool and he eventually headed for Watford.

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The prospect's career failed to hit the heights that had once been expected in the years that followed the transfer and he made just 14 appearances for the Hornets in his five seasons on their books. During this period, he also went out on loan to Birmingham City, Sunderland and Oxford United, alongside temporary moves abroad to German outfit VVV-Venlo and Bulgarian club CSKA Sofia.

Ultimately, he made 110 appearances in total following on from his debut at Liverpool back in 2012, last playing a professional game in 2021. He spent a year out of the game before going on trial back at Oxford in the pre-season of the 2022–23 campaign as he failed to earn a permanent contract with the club.

Since then, Sinclair has not kicked a ball and it was revealed that the former Reds ace had embarked on a new venture as the owner of a fast food restaurant, as of last year. It was confirmed to the Athletic that the player was the owner of a branch in Birmingham, with this coming after the chain brand Morley's previously tweeted a message reading: "Welcome to the Morley’s family, Jerome Sinclair."

Speaking on Football 25/8 on YouTube, the forward said of his experience in the game: "In terms of my experience as a footballer, getting so emotionally invested when things go well or don’t go well affects you so much. You can’t let things get to you so much. You can’t get too low or too high at certain points."

Addressing his days at Liverpool, the forward admitted that the competition for places was fierce, saying: "There were a lot of factors. Looking at the players they had there, it was always going to be difficult for a young striker to play regularly. People who came after me (through the academy ranks) found the same thing.

"I was coming to the end of my contract. It just felt right at that time, with the options I had on the table. I did it with a heavy heart but at that moment I think it was right to make the decision I did. I don’t have a bad word to say about Liverpool."