One Liverpool player has put pen to paper on a new contract on Monday.
As announced by the club’s official website, Afolami Onanuga has signed his first professional deal at Anfield, with the 17-year-old rising through the age grades from under-11 to Marc Bridge-Wilkinson’s current under-18 squad.
The teenager was picked up the the Merseyside club having been spotted playing grassroots football in Manchester, and he’s now officially able to say that he plays the sport as a full-time job.
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Described by Liverpool’s official website as ‘a talented player who links the game well and looks to have a positive impact in the attacking third’, Onanuga – or ‘Fola’, as he’s informally known – has been capped by England at under-15 level.
He’s played five times in the Under-18 Premier League so far this season, setting up Trent Kone-Doherty’s clinching goal in the 4-2 win at Blackburn in September, while he made his first appearance at under-21 level in the EFL Trophy clash away to Blackpool last month (Transfermarkt).
The aforementioned Irish attacker also signed his first professional contract last week, and with Trey Nyoni another of the under-18s who’s catching the eye, the Reds seem to have a few more promising gems coming through the pipeline.
Just as the likes of Ben Doak, Stefan Bajcetic and Jarell Quansah have broken through to the first team over the past 12 months, hopefully Onanuga can do the same in the next couple of years following today’s landmark news for the 17-year-old.
Nigerian by blood and name, Irish by birth