Liverpool teenager closing in on first team debut | OneFootball

There's an exciting teenager closing in on his first-team debut at Liverpool.

Arne Slot doesn't do gifts. He will only reward those young players from the academy who have truly earned their right to be promoted into the first team.

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This is a change from the more loose approach by Jurgen Klopp. The German wasn't as ruthless as Slot and he would give plenty of opportunities to the club's younger players, preferring to work with them and improve them.

Slot still likes to work with young players but only the very best. This is why Rio Ngumoha and Trey Nyoni have had to work so hard to earn a promotion into the first team.

And only when they took their opportunities at U21 and then senior level have they been established as first-teamers.

Liverpool hope there will be more players following their footsteps in the future and there is an exciting prospect who might just be next in line.

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On Wednesday, Liverpool's U19 side took on Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Youth League. Nyoni was present as captain but he was not the only one who caught the eye.

Carter Pinnington is now closing in on the first-team

Liverpool's 18-year-old centre-back Carter Pinnington produced a quality display and made some key blocks towards the end of the game to keep a clean-sheet for the Reds and secure a point.

Despite only being 18-years-old, Pinnington has been playing at this level and higher for quite some time. He made his debut for the U18s at just 15-years-old, and already has 46 appearances for the club's U21 team.

A strong and no-nonsense defender, he's been earmarked as someone who could follow Jarell Quansah's path into the first team.

This season he has been working closely alongside U21 head-coach Rob Page, who has been brought in to help Liverpool's young stars make the next step into adult football.

In order to help Pinnington, Page even played him as a holding-midfielder in pre-season to get him to be more comfortable on the ball.

He's caught the eye in the Reds' most recent Premier League 2 fixture, winning seven defensive duels out of seven contests and seven aerial duels out of seven as well.

In that game Pinnington also made 16 recoveries and produced a similarly monstrous performance. Page praised his mentality after Pinnington's performance against Atletico as per the Daily Mail.

‘Some of the blocks at the end, another day we would have lost that game,’ said Page. ‘Everything we do in training is about winning, about results, that mentality, giving the players accountability and giving them the tools to be more rounded players.’

© IMAGO - Carter Pinnington Liverpool

Capable of playing as a right-back and as a left-back, Pinnington feels like the next in line for a first-team promotion from the U21 team.

Liverpool failed to sign Marc Guehi in the summer transfer window, which means the depth in the centre-back position isn't necessarily where they would like it to be.

If any injury happens to Joe Gomez or Ibrahima Konate, which is likely given their injury history, Pinnington could well be promoted to first-team training.

Not only that, with games coming up in the League Cup, should Liverpool beat Southampton next week, there may be even more opportunities for the teenager.

And he won't be far away from making his debut either, especially if he keeps up his recent performances.