Championship club run the rule over ‘fantastic talent’ after spending 15 years at Liverpool

Ben Woodburn is on trial with Preston North End after leaving Liverpool.

The attacking midfielder - who remains the youngest goalscorer in Reds history when netting against Leeds United in November 2016 aged 17 years, one month and 14 days - was released at the end of last season upon the expiry of his contract.

It brought an end to Woodburn's 15-year association with the club, having joined when he was seven.

The Wales international spent the 2021-22 season on loan at SPL side Hearts and had spells at Blackpool, Oxford United and Sheffield United beforehand.

Now Woodburn is aiming to win a deal with Championship club Preston.

The Lilywhites are preparing for their first full season under manager Ryan Lowe - who played with Steven Gerrard in Liverpool's academy.

What’s been said

On why Preston are looking at Woodburn, Lowe told the club's website: “I tried to do a deal to get him down to Plymouth when I first came down there, but he’d obviously been playing at a higher level.

“Obviously, his contract’s now ended at Liverpool. He was up with Hearts in Scotland last season and he’s a fantastic talent.

“We’re hoping we can get a tune out of him. He's going to be with us for a few weeks and it’s over to Ben now to showcase what he’s really about because with the likes of Ben who have probably had a little bit of a dip in form of late, we’re coaches and managers that want to try and bring the best back out of young lads like him.

"He’ll be with us for a little while. He’s a fantastic kid, he’s trained fantastically well today, a good footballer, but there’s probably one or two more that’ll probably come in with us over the pre-season training because it’s good that we can have a look at them and they can get a look at us.”