What’s also interesting is that while Hughes has focused on signing a lot of young players for defense, he hasn’t really signed any young attackers other than Wright.
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Liverpool definitely have more options at youth level in attack, but that should not deter the club’s sporting director from looking for even more additions with a similar profile to Ndukwe and Ndiaye.
One of them should point to a player who could be the next Ekitike, who is simply made for Liverpool due to his style of play and profile.
The player in question is Julian Hall of the New York Red Bulls. The 17-year-old scored a brace in his first MLS start of the season, helping New York win 2-1.
Despite being so young, this was Hall’s 45th appearance for the Red Bull first team. He has eight goal contributions so far. Admittedly, many of these appearances came from the bench, and Hall started only nine games.
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That makes his performance pretty decent considering he has eight goal contributions in nine starts.
There’s more to Hall than just production, though. His link play and first touch is very similar to Ekitike’s. He has that aura of unpredictability, able to make smart moves to surprise his opponents and retain the ball for his team.
At the same time, he also knows how to get into dangerous areas within the rival area. Like Ekitike, he has great goal awareness.
He won’t turn 18 until next month, and when he does, Liverpool will be able to sign him in the summer window.