Liverpool's biggest senior signings have dominated the summer conversation, but the quieter story is the club's push to sign teenagers from Senegal to Colombia and beyond. Liverpool have made more than £230m from selling players who have represented them at youth level since 2020, and that financial return has helped make the academy pathway part of the club's broader recruitment pitch.
Matt Newberry has led Liverpool's global talent department since the winter of 2024. Since Brexit, Premier League clubs are no longer permitted to sign players under 18 from European countries, and Liverpool are looking further afield as a result. Alex Inglethorpe said that after local and national recruitment, the club now broaden their search globally, and that shift is now visible in the names they are moving for.
Liverpool's pathway pitch
The clearest sign of how the club sell that pitch is Mor Ndiaye. Rob Page called him "an incredible story" and said he is "an unbelievable lad to work with" after his move from Senegal. Page also made the point that Ndiaye is still "nowhere near the finished article", which fits the club's messaging better than any grand claim about instant impact.
That patience is built into the way Liverpool talk about overseas recruits. Inglethorpe said that when players arrive without much English, the club help them adjust to the language, food, weather and even the pitches they train on. Page added that Ndiaye is "on the right path" and that Liverpool "will definitely help him develop".
Liverpool's wider scouting map
Ndiaye is not the only example. Liverpool made a £2.6m move for Ifeanyi Ndukwe after the U17 World Cup, and Samuel Martinez, the 17-year-old Colombian midfielder, is due to join next summer after having "30 offers from around the world, external," according to his father. Those deals show a club willing to recruit far beyond the traditional European route.
Inglethorpe's point about the market matters here. He said the premium on young English players has become significant, and that Liverpool's response has been to look within Merseyside first, then nationally, then globally. The club are spending heavily on senior players too, but their youth recruitment is now part of the same ambition.
Liverpool have started the 2025-26 season with 9 points from their first five Premier League games, while Florian Wirtz has already made 5 league appearances and Alexander Isak has scored 4 goals in 5 appearances. The first-team side is already being refreshed, and the academy work is being pushed in the same direction. What remains is whether the next wave of teenage recruits can make the same climb, starting with Ndiaye and the others arriving behind him.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
