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Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin

Jim Goodwin wants to bring Luca Stephenson back to Dundee United and also tap further into the Liverpool development ranks.

The versatile midfielder had a successful loan at Tannadice and helped the Terrors to clinch a Europa Conference League spot.

United are to open talks about trying to sign Stephenson on a permanent basis but Goodwin has admitted some other Reds have also caught his eye.

Goodwin said: “I’d love to bring Luca back, but he's under contract at Liverpool, so we'll just need to wait and see what happens with that.

“I speak to their loans manager, Matt Newberry, who I've got a good relationship with.

"(Leighton) Clarkson went to Aberdeen, obviously, a couple of years ago.

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"He was really good to deal with again with regards to bringing Luca up.

“They've got a fantastic academy down there, as you'd imagine, so we'll try and tap into that again in the summer.

“I’ve already identified a couple of really good ones, but it's just whether we can get them to Scotland or not.

“It's a relationship that we'll continue to try and work on.

They're a great club to deal with.”

Luca Stephenson in action for Dundee United

Goodwin has already made his personal pitch to Stephenson.

He said: “I had a really good conversation in depth with Luca prior to him leaving.

“He was outstanding for us and deservedly won our Young Player of the Year award.

“We missed him towards the end of the season when he was unavailable.

“We missed his energy in the middle of the pitch, his ability to break things up and his desire to get forward.

“I thought it was glaringly obvious that we missed his presence in the middle of the park in some of the games.”

Goodwin knows Stephenson’s loan will aid their cause at Liverpool.

The United boss added: “Luca's going back down the road speaking positively about his time at Dundee United.

“I think that's the most important thing when these loans come up.

“When they go back down to England, they're talking about the Scottish game and about how they got treated at Dundee United in a positive manner.

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“That can only stand us in good stead for the summer, when we have to go and try and do something similar.”