Next in the ECHO’s Next Gen series, Keifer MacDonald takes a look at left-back Calum Scanlon, who has been included in Liverpool’s squad for their pre-season training camp in Germany
As the majority of eyes were fixated on catching a glimpse of Jordan Henderson boarding Liverpool’s private charter plane to Germany on Saturday morning, there were some inclusions in the Reds’ 32-man squad that went somewhat under the radar.
Of course, the likes the 17-year-old Ben Doak and 18-year-old Bobby Clark will already be of familiarity to supporters after their exceptional progress at academy level last season saw manager Jurgen Klopp hand them their Premier League debuts.
But few will be as aware of left-back Calum Scanlon, who is preparing for his third full season at Anfield after sealing a £500,000 move from boyhood club Birmingham City in December 2020.
The 18-year-old has established himself as a vital member of Marc Bridge-Wilkinson’s Under-18s side in the two years since making his debut as a 15-year-old. In fact, such was the extent of Scanlon’s development during the early months of his career on Merseyside that his first outing for the U18s, in a 3-0 Premier League North victory over Derby County, came after he had completed a day of school as a Year 11 pupil.
He looked comfortable on his debut, he didn’t look out of place at this level and that’s all you can ask for,” Bridge-Wilkinson told the ECHO, assessing the defender’s eye-catching second-half cameo.
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