Ex-Aston Villa coach raves about Liverpool teenager who is 'skilful' and has 'really tidy feet'

Gary McAllister has heaped praise on Liverpool youngster Trey Nyoni after catching the eye during pre-season.

The midfielder joined the Reds last summer from Leicester City. He made fine progress through the academy, scoring five goals in 23 appearances for the under-18s and under-21s.

Nyoni also trained with the first team on several occasions and was handed his debut off the bench in a 3-0 victory over Southampton in the FA Cup. In addition, he was an unused substitute for the Carabao Cup final triumph against Chelsea at Wembley.

The 17-year-old has been training with Arne Slot’s squad since they reported back for duty last month and has travelled to the USA for the pre-season tour. Nyoni was excellent off the bench in a 1-0 victory over Real Betis last weekend when replacing Curtis Jones, while he featured for the entire second half of the 2-1 win triumph against Arsenal in Philadelphia.

Speaking before the Arsenal game, MacAllister hailed the bravery and responsibility that Nyoni showed when in possession. Speaking on LFCTV, the former Liverpool midfielder, who served as a first-team coach on Steven Grerrard’s coaching staff at Aston Villa, said: “He played like someone who played 100 games for Liverpool. He just felt part of it. Really taking responsibility getting on the ball and not just playing safe. Every time, he was looking forward and cutting Betis open.

“A young player can easily come in and play safe by just playing sideways and go back. Each time, he was looking for his centre-forward and guys in front of him.

“He's skilful as well. He's got really tidy feet and he is young but really impressive and looked as if he really enjoyed it. He's been well looked after in the academy with that ability to go on and play for the first team and now it's a completely new learning curve with the manager drip-feeding him into the company of the senior players. Then it's up to the senior players to put an arm around him.”