Liverpool’s youngest ever goalscorer secures move to Preston North End shortly after becoming a free agent

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Ben Woodburn has expressed his excitement at the fact he’s signed for Championship side Preston North End.

The 22-year-old became a free agent this summer after his Liverpool contract expired and had been training with the Deepdale outfit recently.

He had spent time away from Anfield on loan in previous seasons, including spells at Blackpool, Sheffield United and Hearts, but the Reds’ youngest ever goalscorer is now looking forward to playing under North End boss Ryan Lowe after signing a one-year deal.

“I’m very excited for the deal to be done. Obviously I’ve been on trial for a week now and things have gone pretty well, so I’m buzzing to get started as a Preston player,” the ex-Red said (as quoted by Lancs Live).

“Obviously when I got called and told I could come and train, I was buzzing. I wanted to show the gaffer what I could do, luckily I’ve earned a contract out of it.

“He’s tried to get me at his older clubs a few times and unfortunately things haven’t worked out there, but now we can work together and I’m a fan of how he plays football, so I’m really excited to get going.”

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Lowe, who is from Liverpool himself, was keen to point out that Woodburn is still young and has a bright future ahead of him, highlighting the Wales international’s versatility as one of the main reasons why he was keen to bring the attacker to Lancashire.

“Ben’s someone I’ve taken a real interest in over the past few years since he burst on to the scene at Liverpool at a young age. He’s a fantastic lad with a fantastic talent who’s had it up and down over the past few years, but we feel that at the tender age of 22, we can develop him into a top player for Preston North End.

“We’ve only had him with us for a week but you can see the quality he’s got. He’s a good footballer with a good footballing brain and he’s a good acquisition for us.

“He can play in numerous positions. He can play as a ten, just off the striker, or in any of the eight positions, whether it be left or right.

“He’s probably even capable of playing right wing back, so he’s someone who can play a few positions which is always nice, but ultimately he’s an attack-minded player who we feel can create and score goals.”

After Woodburn wasn’t offered a new contract at Anfield, it’s great to see that it hasn’t took him long to secure a decent move elsewhere.

Wales qualified for their first World Cup since 1958 recently so the Welshman will therefore be keen to earn regular game time in the Championship this term to ensure he’s a part of the squad heading to Qatar in November.

It’s a shame it didn’t quite work out for our former No. 58 after so much was hoped of him after he became our youngster ever goalscorer when he scored against Leeds in a League Cup tie back in 2016, but hopefully he can kick on and have an impressive career elsewhere.

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