Chris Mavinga signs for Liverpool

Well what do you know, Liverpool has beaten Arsenal to the signing of a French youngster. Now that's something which you don't see every day.

Reds starlets on display during pre-season

Pre-season is an exciting time for two reasons. First and foremost because the withdrawal symptoms from the season proper start to fade away. Secondly it provides an opportunity for Reds fans to catch a glimpse of the upcoming youth players who might get a shot at the big time.

Paul Anderson is off to Forest

Big things were expected from Anderson over the years. He was an important member of the Youth Cup success of 2006, after that he did well at reserve level, before excelling in League One. Sadly the step up to Championship level proved he wasn't quite up to the standard required by LFC.

Jesus Fernandez Saez has signed for Liverpool

First we had God at LFC, now it looks like we might have Jesus also (not to imply he's the son of Fowler). Liverpool have beaten Real Madrid & Barcelona to the signing of another highly talented kid.

Spearing and Darby need competitive football

As several youth players got promoted yesterday from the youth academy up to Melwood and the reserve team set up, it seems high time for some of the more established reserve team youth players to move on.

Reserve player ? More like first team player !

Such was the impact which Insua made last season during his first team appearances, it's hard to think of him as a reserve player. Insua was deservedly voted the reserve player of the season (poll on the official LFC site). But next season, we can forget all about seeing Insua in the reserves, as he has proven he's definitely good enough for the first team.

Probably the best thing about the progress which Insua has made this season, is the positive effect this could have on the other youth players. Knowing a first team breakthrough is possible, should result in them being more motivated and also encouraging other young talents to sign for LFC. We're bound to reap the benefits of that in the years ahead.

Lauri Dalla Valle - profiled starlet

This Finnish starlet has had an impressive season, and was probably our best youth player. At just 17 he became the youngest player at Melwood, then he went on to score 20 goals in all competitions (8 in the Youth Cup).

It's not just his goal scoring feats which attract attention, but his overall awareness of what's happening around him. The midfielder/striker, can easily find space between defenders and also pick out his team mates with killer passes.

Although Dalla Valle is still very much developing, he comes across as one of the few youth players who has got a real chance of making the step up to the first team. Realistically it'll be another year or so before he's pressing for a first team place, but the raw potential is there for all to see.

Uphill battle for the youths tonight

Arsenals youth team ran riot last week and beat our youth team 4-1 in the first leg of the FA Youth Cup final. Tonight marks the return leg of the final at Anfield Road. It might seem almost inconceivable that our youths can overcome that deficit, but there's a bit of symmetry at play here.

You see back in the good old days (80s), it seemed almost inconceivable that any side could come to Anfield and beat Liverpool 2-0. Sure enough Arsenal managed it and won the league in the process. Today is the 20th Anniversary.

There would be a certain sense of poetic justice if our youth players could do the unlikely and beat Arsenal to win the Youth Cup tonight. Also over the next month, we'll be taking a closer look at the most promising youth players in a new starlet series (starts this Thursday).

Hobbs loan move has been made permanent

Breaking into the first team on a consistent basis was always going to be difficult for Jack Hobbs considering the quality of competition for places. But he did get to make several appearances for LFCs first team, and also played a part in the famed Youth Cup success in 2006.

He has just had a pretty decent season on loan with Leicester City, helping them get promoted to the Championship. Having earned himself a permanent transfer to Leicester City, it should allow him to develop his potential, but not necessarily to the kind of standard required by LFC.

The case for Insua and Riera on the left flank

While Aurelio is a more than useful full back, and poor Dossena is less than useful (in the Premier League anyway), Insua definitely has to be the future and possibly the present. The kid has got it all pace, skill, awareness, plus he can shoot and pass very well. When Insua is on the pitch, we tend to score more and concede less goals.

Statistics aren't the be all and end all for everything but they sure do paint some interesting pictures from time to time. Oh You Beauty has a rather interesting and well researched post on the case for using Insua and Riera on the left flank. Click here to see the cool post.

Lucas or Aurelio for the midfield position

It's great that the international break is coming to an end, but I wonder who will get to partner Mascherano in midfield. With Alonso suspended and Gerrard still injured, Rafa doesn't have too many other credible options for the match against Manchester City this weekend.

The fact remains that Rafa rates Lucas very highly and there's a strong possibility that Rafa will start him. If that's the case then I hope we get to see one of his more accomplished performances. Love him or loathe him, Lucas is capable of playing well.

But there's also other options available. Aurelio had an excellent game in midfield against Portsmouth, and if Rafa were to take a chance with him again, we might get to see the exciting talent of Insua at left back again. This I would imagine is the preferred option for many Reds fans.

Youth players preferred to Voronin return

Well if Rafa thinks Keane wasn't good enough for Liverpool to the extent that he was willing to ship him out so soon, then I think Voronin's offer to shore up our striking department is likely to fall on deaf ears. In fact, I think he would have already been recalled from his loan with Hertha Berlin, if Rafa felt he was good enough (but let's face it, he didn't exactly settle very well).

While I'm no fan of Rafa's decision to ship Keane out so soon, I do look on this as a golden opportunity for some of the youth players, as opposed to a jaded senior player. Ngog has already had some playing time, but it's Nemeth who I really hope is given a chance in the first team, as he comes across as having far more potential than Ngog.

Aurelio is back in the nick of time

Over the last several games, Insua has had the chance to showcase his exciting potential (link), to the extent that he looked like cementing his place in the first team. Unfortunately though, Insua has decided to attend the Under-20 South American Championships with Argentina, which lasts for a month.

Fortunately for us, Aurelio made his return from injury, coming on as a sub against Preston last Saturday. Given that we've got Everton and Chelsea coming up in the next month [link], he should have enough time to work on his fitness and provide us with the quality we need at left back.

Victor Palsson is set to sign for Liverpool

With the January transfer window opening, I'm sure we were all hoping to see a high profile signing or two take place, but for now we'll have to content ourselves with the signing of another midfielder to strengthen our youth ranks.

Victor Palsson, who turned 18 today, is reputedly a strong midfielder who had a successful trial with us back in October. He's from Iceland, but plays first team football for Danish side AGF. His signing is subject to the successful completion of a medical.

I appreciate there's only a couple hundred people from Iceland and Denmark who visit this blog each week, but if by any chance any of you know anything more about this midfield starlet feel free to enlighten the rest of us.

Insua could become our first choice left back

It has become clear that Insua has the potential to be so much more than an understudy to Aurelio. His accomplished performances against Blackburn, Arsenal and Bolton have shown that he's well on his way to becoming our first choice left back. At the very least his performances merit many more games.

He's got both an acute defending & attacking nous, which is complemented by his pace, skill, passing and shooting abilities. Even against Arsenal, he didn't look out of place, fitting in perfectly (man of the match performance). If he continues in this vein of form, Aurelio could well see himself sitting on the bench when he returns from injury.

Gerrard gives Lucas the cold shoulder

For someone so young and inexperienced, last season Lucas showed many glimpses of his talent with excellent composure against even the bigger teams. His simple style of play involved giving the team options through intelligent passing and movement.

Despite not really impressing so far this season, there's undoubted potential there. It takes times for all players to mature and even then they still go through rough patches (same for Gerrard, Mascherano and Alonso).

Unfortunately Gerrard clattered into the kid yesterday on a frosted training ground pitch, which left him grasping his shoulder in agony. There's still no word on how long he'll be out for. Which is a shame as he makes a more than credible 4th choice midfielder [for the time being]. Who knows, maybe in another year or two, we'll all be drooling over his performances.

Time for the youngsters to show their stuff

The Carling Cup has long been a competition which is looked down upon by the 'big four'. Tonight is less about revenge for last weeks surprise defeat to Spurs than it's about resting key players for the league campaign.

What most fans do have to look forward to is seeing if any youngsters show their potential in a competitive game. There's bound to be plenty of room for youngsters such as San Jose, Lucas, Plessis, El Zhar and Ngog to get their game tonight. Unfortunately I suspect that the likes of Dossena & Degen will get their game ahead of Insua & Darby though.

Torres is also in the squad, hopefully he'll be limited to a cameo appearance to help build up his fitness rather than risk a full 90 minutes in an otherwise meaningless game.

Braziliant - Vitor Flora signs for Liverpool

Our Brazilian contingent at Anfield continues to grow with the free signing of 18 year old striker Vitor Flora from Botafogo FC. He's a skillful, clever and left footed striker, but Youtube clip (link) aside, I don't know much about him. With the sheer attacking quality we have at youth level, I'm not sure where Flora is going to fit in.

He'll have a real fight on his hands to try and outshine the likes of Pacheco, Bruna, Amoo etc. But if the paperwork goes through quickly enough, we just might get our first glimpse of him in tomorrow nights reserve game which is live on LFC TV.

Third time lucky for Craig Lindfield

A couple of years ago, the Reds starlet had many of us dreaming we'd found the next home grown talent capable of breaking through to the first team. Playing alongside his hero (Fowler), he scored on his Liverpool debut at just 17 years of age.

Last season he had 2 loan spells and scored a stunning volley on his debut for Notts County, sadly both loan spells were cut short because the clubs couldn't afford his wages. This season sees him go on loan with AFC Bournemouth to gain some experience in League One [EDIT: minor typo (read: f**k up), it's really League Two].

With the emergence of Bruna, Pacheco and now Ngog, I wonder if Lindfield will ever make the breakthrough to the first team.

Loan could be good for Leto [and us]

I'm not sure what all the recent fuss was over Leto having his work permit turned down. He may have looked good playing for the reserves but was terrible whenever he played for the first team last season. With regards to our up and coming youth talent, he doesn't stand out in the way that Insua, Pacheco and Nemeth do.

Fortunately for him [and possibly us], he has just secured a 2 year loan deal with Olympiakos. Regardless of whether he ends up making it as a Liverpool player, the move should at least give him lots of experience and raise his transfer value should Rafa decide to sell him further down the line.