Training ground image hints at subtle in-house Liverpool remedy for problem position | OneFootball

Liverpool academy striker Will Wright was involved in first-team training on Thursday afternoon as Arne Slot’s squad stepped up preparations for the weekend visit of Crystal Palace to Anfield.

Hugo Ekitike’s horrific Achilles tendon rupture has left Alexander Isak as the only out-and-out senior centre-forward available to the Reds, and the Swedish striker is still feeling his way back into action after nearly four months out with a broken leg.

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With Jayden Danns also sidelined with injury problems, it’s left the head coach turning to another gem from the underage ranks to bolster our options in the no.9 role.

Wright involved in first-team training today

Liverpool academy reporter Lewis Bower took to X this afternoon to share an image of Wright in the first-team training session in Kirkby, with the 18-year-old understood to have impressed in the under-21s’ recent friendly against their Paris Saint-Germain counterparts.

The writer posted: ‘Will Wright in first-team training, although, I wouldn’t considered this a new development and might consider himself unlucky to have not already been in the squad. He has been doing well. PSG were impressed in the U21 friendly.’

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Wright provides Liverpool with a short-term in-house alternative

Signed from Salford City last summer, Wright has overcome a severe injury of his own in the early weeks of the season to make an impression at underage level for Liverpool.

The teenager has yet to feature in a senior matchday squad for the Reds, although he’s accrued four goals and five assists for the under-21 side in Premier League 2, and Bower also referenced his standout performance in the friendly against PSG.

He’s highly unlikely to be thrown in for a first-team debut in a high-stakes fixture against Palace on Saturday, with his involvement in training more likely attributable to a desire from Slot to expose him to the senior environment with a view to potentially including him on the bench in upcoming games.

If Liverpool earn the luxury of securing Champions League qualification with matches to spare (they’re currently five points clear of Brighton in sixth and have a game in hand), maybe then Wright will be rewarded with an official debut for the Reds with the pressure off.

With Ekitike and Danns sidelined and LFC unable to sign a striker before the end of the season, at least the 18-year-old could provide an in-house remedy to see them through the next month and provide some natural centre-forward backup to Isak.