Inside Liverpool's academy: Iraola collaboration, strict rules and the route to the first team

Alex Inglethorpe, Liverpool's academy director, outlined the club's approach to youth development at the AXA Training Centre in a feature published on 8 October 2026. He described practical measures, recent transfer activity and the relationship between the academy and the first team.

One of the first things Inglethorpe points to in his office is a framed photograph gifted by Trent Alexander-Arnold of the pair watching a game together; Alexander-Arnold left for Real Madrid last year after 20 years on Merseyside. Alexander-Arnold joined Liverpool as a six-year-old in 2004 and, during his time at the club, won the Premier League, Champions League, FA Cup, League Cup, Community Shield, Uefa Super Cup and Fifa Club World Cup. "The ideal for any academy, and certainly for us, is wanting young players - and hopefully they're local players - to improve the first team and in doing so, they come and win trophies," says Inglethorpe.

Inglethorpe and his staff are charged with aligning the academy pathway with the first team and he uses a physical metaphor to describe the process: the first team pitch is only 300 metres away from the academy building in Kirkby, "but the journey might take 10 years to get there". He highlighted the early engagement under new boss Andoni Iraola, noting that players who have spent time at the academy — Rio Ngumoha, Trey Nyoni, Lewis Koumas and James McConnell — have all featured this season. "We were fortunate because of how the calendar worked, with players still at the World Cup and a delayed return. Andoni and his staff spent a lot of his first week here watching the academy," says Inglethorpe. "So we felt ahead, in terms of building a relationship from the outset."

Daily routines and expectations form part of the club's culture: phones are handed in each morning and contracts include a clause limiting engine size for cars driven into academy premises. "It comes back to passing your audition. First impressions matter," says Inglethorpe. "Often before you've kicked a ball, the car you drive or the watch you wear can have an impact on how you're thought of - and that could be first team staff or players looking at you. "We've believed in the idea of 'earning the right' for some time."

The wider market for teenagers is reflected in recent movements involving Liverpool's youth players. Last week Manchester United signed 16-year-old winger Isaac Konde from Liverpool on a one-year scholarship followed by a five-year professional deal, and both clubs are now in talks over a compensation package. In February a tribunal ruled Liverpool must pay at least £2.8m to Chelsea for Ngumoha; the 18-year-old left Chelsea in September 2024 to join the Reds and signed his first professional contract a year later.

On the commercial and regulatory pressures around youth recruitment, Inglethorpe said: "It's always a compliment when other clubs want your players as it means you're doing something right," and added: "But I think the market of players at 16 is distorted because of Brexit and because you can't recruit like you would do before. There's always been movement of players but it feels a little more extreme now. "When there's a clamour for talent - fees, wages and everything else will shift accordingly, so it's dealing with what we have and adapting to a new situation." He also confirmed the academy's wage structure is under review.

Local identity and pathways were addressed alongside individual examples. Curtis Jones' move to Inter Milan in the summer left Liverpool without a first-team player born in the city, but Inglethorpe stressed the value of adopted characteristics: "I acknowledge the fact that ideally Liverpool would love to have a team full of Scousers," he said. "But it is testament to the supporters that if you adopt the characteristics of a Scouser - and you only have to see the likes of Bill Shankly, Kenny Dalglish and others over the years - you can be treated as one of their own. "So if you are fearless, passionate, play tough and demonstrate those qualities, then it doesn't matter if you've come from an L1 postcode and got a purple bin or not. That's the beauty of the club and the crowd." He added: "We've got plenty of Scousers in the academy and plenty who I think will play for the club. But if not and a lad comes from Warrington or wherever, that's not a problem." Fifteen-year-old Luca Eden, born in the Wirral and already an England youth international, became last month the youngest player to feature in the Uefa Youth League for Liverpool.

Part of Inglethorpe's remit involves difficult selection and release decisions; Liverpool released eight players from the academy at the end of last season. He cited examples of players who were not outstanding as youths yet later succeeded, mentioning Harry Kane and Alexander-Arnold during his previous coaching roles and saying: "At that stage, there's too many unknowns. You can't predict how players will react to adversity and natural bumps in the road," adding "I've been proven wrong so many times in the past. A good example would be Jarell [Quansah] - someone who was always liked and never in danger of leaving but probably never seen in the top three in the group." Quansah left Liverpool for Bayer Leverkusen in 2025 and has since won eight caps for England. "There are no certainties - the point of the academy is to allow them to fulfil their potential," Inglethorpe said. "Sometimes players need to leave to gain an opportunity. There are lots of lovely examples of boys leaving and having good careers, and I'm not convinced they would have had the same career if they stayed at Liverpool. "The linear and most productive way is to break in, but there's different pathways that can lead back to playing for Liverpool - and that is the dream."

Inglethorpe pointed to specific moments that illustrate the academy-first team link, notably the 2024 Carabao Cup final against Chelsea nicknamed the 'Kids Cup', when Liverpool, hit by injuries, finished with a team averaging under 22 and Jurgen Klopp described it as his "most special trophy". He keeps a magnetic board in his office with headshots of every academy player on the left and the first-team squad on the right, and a dressing-room sign reads: "Don't look sideways" referring to the proximity of the first-team training pitch. Approaching 14 years at the club next month, he summarised his aims: "Anyone would want to take something on and leave it in a better place, and I think we've done that," and added, "Ultimately we have had players in the first team winning major trophies and we're fortunate to be part of that era."

Liverpool plan a £20m revamp of the academy facility, scheduled to be completed by 2028, and Inglethorpe underlined the club's ambition in that context: "There are exciting times ahead with the potential for the other end, and I'm really excited for the future," he said. "In Julian Ward [the new sporting director], we have someone who is hugely invested in the academy and has been on this journey for a long time."