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Image Credits: Blackpool FC

Liverpool have been linked with a move for Blackpool’s 16-year-old academy standout Gabriel Schluter, with Football Insider reporting that the Reds had agreed a six-figure fee and scheduled a medical on Merseyside this week.

Since then, cold water has been poured on the report somewhat, with James Pearce suggesting that claims of a deal being agreed are wide of the mark.

However, the Athletic journalist did caveat it with the fact that the player is on Liverpool’s radar.

The 2009-born talent operates primarily as a left-winger.

He burst onto the scene when, aged just 15 years, nine months and 27 days, he made his senior debut for Blackpool in the EFL Trophy against Liverpool’s U21s—becoming the youngest ever first-team player in the club’s history.

In the 2023/24 season, Schluter was voted Blackpool’s U15 Players’ Player of the Year.

Now Blackpool sporting director David Downes has responded to the reports, and has admitted it will be a struggle to keep hold of Schluter if a “top cat” side like Liverpool come calling:

“We always want to try to keep our best players but while they’re at scholarship age we obviously remain at the mercy of a lot of top cat teams,” he said as quoted by the Blackpool Gazette. 

“We want to try to keep our better players, but sometimes the draw of a Liverpool or a top cat one makes it difficult for us to compete.

It’s something that you struggle to affect.”

Downes went on to rattle off some names of youth players at Blackpool who have been given senior opportunities, and hopes that Schluter see that their is a pathway for him at the club:

“I hope we’ve shown in recent times that there’s a route through at Blackpool, with the faith the gaffer showed in Rob (Apter) in terms of game time, and then there’s Theo (Upton) and Spencer (Knight) who have shown themselves in the EFL Trophy.

“There’s opportunities there – they train with the first-team often enough.

We want to show that there’s a pathway, but if cat one clubs come knocking then we’re at the mercy of contracts where they can take players from us?

It’ll always be a challenge that we face.”

There is obviously something in these reports, even if claims of a done deal were premature.

At 16, Schluter is viewed as a long-term project rather than a first-team ready recruit.

If he were to join the Reds, he may well be involved in the U21 side that recently welcomed former Wales manager Rob Page as their new head coach.

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