Liverpool take unprecedented step of limiting pay of first-year pros to £40k as manager Jurgen Klopp wants to keep his starlets’ feet on the ground
LIVERPOOL’S stars of the future are to have a wage cap as Jurgen Klopp wants to keep their feet on the ground.
The Kop have taken the unprecedented step of putting their 17-year-old, first-season pros on a basic annual wage of £40,000.
Manager Jurgen Klopp does not want Liverpool youngsters to get distracted so has asked the club to cap their wagesGetty ImagesEuropean Cup-winner Steven Gerrard is the most famous product of the Liverpool youth scheme and went on to skipper EnglandTimes Newspapers LtdKlopp is instilling a new attitude and style across the club in his second seasonGetty Images
That salary will increase with bonuses for first-team games, Under-23 appearances or lower-division loans and such like.
Yet the move is intended to stop the ‘too much, too young’ culture which has seen some Prem clubs pay huge sums to tempt the top kids to join them.
Boss Klopp is backing academy chief Alex Inglethorpe over the move, believing it makes youngsters hungrier to battle their way into the first team rather than just be content to pick up a massive payday.
The German also strongly disagrees with FA advice which prevents academy players from turning out for their schools or local sides once signing with a club.
Now-retired striker Michael Owen made a huge impact as a teenager at Liverpool before moving to Real MadridTimes Newspapers LtdRobbie Fowler came up from Liverpool youths and became one of the best finishers of recent decades in English footballNews Group Newspapers LtdJamie Carragher has become a leading TV pundit after a long career with LiverpoolReuters
He revealed: “I’ve always been at clubs for the long term, so when I see a good 16-year-old player, I can always wait for him.
“We will always use our own boys before signing a player who isn’t a lot better than what we already have. That’s how the future should be.
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“Even in the crazy football transfer world, we want to be this special club.
“We have created a situation where all these boys have a real perspective. They need to know there is a way through.”
Liverpool’s golden era of home-grown talent came a quarter of a century ago, with the likes of Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen.
Klopp is adamant those days can return and added: “We have these wonderful stories of boys arriving at the age of seven, staying here and playing for the club as a professional.
“Maybe for the Scouse people around, that doesn’t happen often enough.”
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