Inside Liverpool's increasing global investment in youth

What the report says

Liverpool are stepping up efforts to recruit young talent from outside their traditional markets, according to BBC Sport Football. The club’s global talent department, led by Matt Newberry, is taking a larger role as Liverpool adapt to the post-Brexit market, where signing teenagers from Europe is more restricted and young English players are more expensive. The BBC report says Liverpool have also generated more than £230m from the sale of players who came through their youth system since 2020, reinforcing the club’s self-sustaining model under Fenway Sports Group.

A major example highlighted is Mor Talla Ndiaye, an 18-year-old centre-half from Senegal who joined Liverpool in January for about £1m plus add-ons. BBC Sport says scouts identified him after the U17 World Cup in Qatar, then Liverpool carried out video calls and meetings in Senegal with his academy, family and support network before he chose the club for its clearer pathway to first-team football. Ndiaye has since trained with the first team and featured around the senior squad, while Liverpool’s U21 boss Rob Page described him as promising but still developing.

The article also points to other overseas targets and signings, including Ifeanyi Ndukwe, Samuel Martinez, Lucca Brughmans and Djylian N’Guessan, showing a broader push into markets beyond Europe. BBC Sport frames this as part of Liverpool’s belief that a wider global network can help them identify talent earlier and compete with rival clubs for emerging players.