One Liverpool academy player was reportedly offered a professional contract of up to £50,000 per week by a Premier League rival this summer.
In early June, the Reds bagged a huge win by securing Joshua Abe on scholarship terms, with a pre-contract agreement in place for a three-year pro deal, commencing on his 17th birthday this time next year (The Athletic).
The winger – who turns 16 on Friday – was sought by several English top-flight clubs before committing his future to the Merseysiders, and he’s set to join Andoni Iraola’s first-team squad on their upcoming tour to the United States.
In an article looking ahead to those fixtures in North America, The Athletic‘s Andy Jones profiled Abe as one of the Liverpool youngsters who could make the most of the absence of numerous senior players who are on a post-World Cup break.
The journalist wrote of how the winger ‘received significant interest from a host of Premier League clubs’, one of whom offered him a professional deal of up to £50,000 per week, before he agreed scholarship terms with the Reds.
Jones also referenced how the teenager has been given a first-team squad number for the 2026/27 campaign, another indicator to show ‘how highly regarded’ he is on Merseyside.
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Abe has only played above under-18 level once in his fledgling career, when he came on as a substitute for Rob Page’s under-19 side in the UEFA Youth League against Zilina in February, so for him to be offered a professional contract in the region of £50,000 per week is extraordinary.
For context, that’s the same weekly wage that Wataru Endo – a hugely experienced 33-year-old midfielder who’d been captain of Japan for several years – collects at Liverpool, according to Capology.
That explains just how big a coup it is for the Reds to have secured the teenager’s future for the foreseeable, and they can probably expect big-name Premier League rivals to be circling again if he makes the progress of which he seems capable in the coming years.
Abe seems likely to be given some first-team exposure in pre-season, which should hopefully do wonders for his development, before continuing to grow in the academy ranks and potentially being incorporated into the under-21 side in the next few months.
At his age it’s important not to be too grandiose when talking about his potential, but there are certainly a few signs which hint at just how bright a future he could have at Liverpool if all goes to plan.
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