‘Best young talent’ - EFL chairman sends Liverpool message as three clubs line up bids

Peterborough United chairman Darragh MacAnthony has spoken of his disappointment that Liverpool scarcely send scouts to watch some of the 'unbelievable young talent' at his club.

The Reds have utilised the Football League pyramid to sign players in the past. Joe Gomez was recruited from Charlton Athletic, Nat Phillips joined from Bolton Wanderers while Jordon Ibe was prised from Wycombe Wanderers.

With new Brexit rules making it harder to sign fledgling foreign talents, bringing in upcoming players on these shore is something Liverpool have looked at doing. This summer, 14-year-old Harvey Owen arrived from Wolves and the Reds have reportedly agreed for Trey Nyoni to join following his departure from Leicester.

Peterborough are currently second in the League One table after winning their opening three matches and have consciously reduced the average age of their squad significantly this season. Speaking on his podcast The Hard Truth, MacAnthony admitted that three Premier League clubs are expected to bid for England under-20 international Ronnie Edwards before the transfer window closes. And being a Liverpool fan, he'd like Jurgen Klopp's side to start running the rule over some in the Posh ranks.

MacAnthony said: "We know factually that three different Premier League clubs will be making a bid [for Edwards]. They're not going to sign him before other targets because it's a case of, to your fans in the Prem, if you're signing a player of that age from the lower leagues it's: ‘You're signing him before anyone else?’.

“That's going to come down the line but boy, oh boy, he's on a different level. Forget all the hype, he's on a different level. My biggest gutter is that my beloved club are never at any our our games. I can show you a list of scouts for our under-21s game yesterday - Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Newcastle, Villa, Brighton, Bournemouth. My Liverpool weren't there.

“I can even show you the scouts that went to Barnsley last night (a 3-1 win) to watch our player. I think on Saturday, Liverpool were finally there but I believe it was probably to watch a Charlton player because they've bought players from Charlton. I don't know if they're going the hump with me but it's like: 'I'm a Liverpool fan, what are you doing!' If you want to buy the best young talent, we have got some unbelievable young talent. It's not like I'm trying to sell them all but if someone else is in, you've got to be in.”