Mix of Ngumoha and Mane: Iraola Ready to Unleash Joshua Abe at Liverpool

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He is considered the most talented player in Liverpool's academy

Liverpool's academy has produced some exciting players in recent years, none more so than Rio Ngumoha, who picked up his second England cap against Czechia on Tuesday night.

The 18-year-old isn't the only youngster making an impact on Liverpool 's first-team this season either, with 19-year-old Trey Nyoni, 21-year-old Lewis Koumas and 22-year-old James McConnell all getting minutes this term, while Luke Chambers has appeared on the substitutes' bench against Atletico Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur.

A lack of real strength in depth following the exit of Curtis Jones to Inter Milan has given more opportunity for the young Reds midfielders, while the Merseyside outfit are also short of depth on the right wing and up top, with Hugo Ekitike on the long road to recovery after rupturing his Achilles' tendon.

Now, Alexander Isak and Cody Gakpo have suffered injuries while on international duty, with the latter set to be out for 'several' weeks with the issue.

Andoni Iraola will hope that the problem for Isak isn't serious and that he will be available for the visit of Manchester City on October 11, otherwise the Spaniard will have a decision to make on who starts through the middle.

The injury issues and the fact that the transfer window is closed until January does open up opportunities for more of Liverpool's young talents to appear on the bench, and potentially get on the pitch in the coming months.

Liverpool Academy Players This Season

The Daily Mail have created a list of the 16 best wonderkids in the Premier League who are eyeing up a debut appearance for their club this season, and it includes Reds winger Joshua Abe.

The report says that the 16-year-old is considered to be the most talented player in Liverpool's academy, with Real Madrid, Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea among the clubs who wanted to prise him away from Anfield, but failed.

Journalist Lewis Steele rates his chances of making his Premier League debut this season at 4/5, which is not too surprising given he has already trained with the first-team and featured during pre-season.

The teenage talent is currently sidelined through injury though, having had minor surgery on a shoulder issue, although he should be available again soon.

The winger is described by the report as having 'magic in his boots', and he looks to have a huge future ahead of him given he is already in Liverpool's thinking at 16 years of age.

Of course, Ngumoha made his debut for the Merseyside outfit at the same age, and scored his first goal for the club with a dramatic last-gasp winner against Newcastle United at St James' Park lats August.

Given his age and the surrounding hype, it appears as though Abe is the most likely candidate to be the next Ngumoha and make a long-awaited appearance for the Liverpool first-team, especially with the issues they are having in attack right now.

Abe's Record for Liverpool U18s:

A left-footed right-winger, the teenager has also been compared to Sadio Mane by Liverpool World, because of his playing style and the fact he knows where the goal is.

U18s boss Simon Wiles has also been full of praise for the 16-year-old previously, telling Redmen TV :

> “You can see him growing with confidence and the quality that he’s got. > > He’s got a real knack for coming inside and hitting the back of the net. > > "He’s a real talent and it’s really exciting working with him. Josh is in a really good place.”

As mentioned above, Liverpool have a lot of wingers who prefer to play from the left in Ngumoha, Bradley Barcola, Victor Munoz and Cody Gakpo.

Clearly that can't happen, and they will need to feature on the right too, but it does give Abe an opportunity that might not have been there if he also preferred to play from the left.

They have been in constant contact with the player's camp

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