Liverpool have confirmed the permanent exit of Max Woltman on Thursday afternoon, with the 19-year-old joining Oxford United.
The Reds announced the news on their official website today, with the teenager bringing an end to his lengthy association with the Merseyside club, having joined the academy as a seven-year-old.
Having had a loan spell at Doncaster Rovers last season, he’ll now be playing one division higher with Liam Manning’s side.
Woltman might only have made two senior appearances for Liverpool (Transfermarkt), but one of those came in a Champions League group game away to AC Milan at San Siro – a proud memory that nobody can ever take away from him.
The youngster previously revealed that he modelled his game on former Reds attacker Bobby Firmino (Liverpool Echo), and with the Brazilian securing legend status with his 111-goal haul at Anfield (Transfermarkt), he’s certainly an ideal role model to have.
The 31-year-old was renowned for his exceptional link-up play, and that’s a commodity that LFC academy coach Marc Bridge-Wilkinson once lauded in Woltman (Liverpool Echo), while also hailing the teenager for the manner in which he absorbed and implemented advice from his coaches.
Having seen the likes of Ben Doak, Conor Bradley, James McConnell, Bobby Clark and Jarell Quansah all feature on the first team’s pre-season tour to Singapore, but not getting the call himself, the now-Oxford striker would probably have known his prospects on Merseyside weren’t especially promising.
That’s not to say he isn’t a very talented young player, though, and it’s great to see that he’ll now get a prolonged chance to establish himself in senior football in what should be a very competitive League One this season.
The U’s could have bagged themselves a real gem, and we’d love to see Woltman ripping it up at the Kassam Stadium!
#Ep83 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones