Record-breaking Liverpool Star is on his way back And Klopp already knows his talent

Liverpool have a record-breaking teenager, Kaide Gordon, who is making his comeback and following Steven Gerrard, which could soon benefit Klopp.

As much as we tend to trivialize it, football development is not a straight line. Players mature and bloom at different ages. Likewise, they will decline and fall at a different rate as well.

They are in fact, humans and every human being differs in the way they grow. Steven Gerrard is an example who is one of the best Liverpool players of all time. And he only started to break into the first team at 19 years of age.

Liverpool needs to be patient with their young prospect Kaide Gordon

However, comparing someone like Steven Gerrard with the likes of Jude Bellingham doesn’t serve justice.

At just 19 years of age, Bellingham had represented the England national team and had more than a hundred first-team games, for his club.

This itself is a prime example of how development varies from one player to another.

Another Liverpool Legend Michael Owen was so good that he won the Ballon d’Or when he was just 22 years old.

And hence, not everybody could be expected to be a Bellingham or a Michael Owen. In the case of Gerrard, like many other young players, who develop late, he was often held back by growing pains.

Moreover, this is not a rare thing in football as teenagers often develop and grow at different rates.

While Gerard was 17-18, he underwent a big growth spurt which meant Liverpool had to manage him carefully. This, in the end, delayed Gerrard’s emergence into the first team.

In fact, Erling Haaland also had to undergo a similar process at his boyhood club, Molde back in Norway.

“He was really impatient because we wouldn’t play him at the start, he didn’t get games, he just had to train alternative for a long time. But the medical department felt that the best thing for him was to take it easy for the next, maybe six months, and slowly, slowly, put him back into football.”

Molde FK scout John Vik spoke about Haaland on First Time Finish.

Now there is a similar prospect at Liverpool who had to undergo a similar process, Kaide Gordon.

Gerrard likes treatment for the youngster

Gordon, the Liverpool youngster broke onto the scene very rapidly in 2021 when he first arrived at the club. Moreover, he even managed to play a handful of first-team games under Klopp.

Amongst his achievements in the first team was the distinction of becoming the club’s youngest-ever scorer in the FA Cup.

He scored against Shrewsbury back in 2022 and made his debut in the Premier League with a total of four starts 4 games for the Reds at the time.

At that time, Gordon stood at just 1.73 meters and he started to develop discomfort in his pelvis. This saw him being diagnosed with adolescent musculoskeletal issues, just like Gerard once had.

This eventually led to Gordon missing the rest of the 2021/22 season. He did not even feature at any level for the club’s academy sides last season.

However, after a long wait, he has returned and is playing football again for the Reds. Earlier this September, he featured 16 minutes for the club’s U21 side in Premier League 2.

Moreover, recently, over the weekend he was back in action for just over half an hour against Benfica in the Premier League International Cup.

The youngster looked visibly more physical on his return which is clear that he has grown a lot. He looked noticeably stronger in comparison to his teenage self.

However, Liverpool will be patient with Gordon’s development and it is important to note that he only turned 19 recently.

Of course, there will be no rush to get him back to the first team. And Jurgen Klopp wouldn’t have forgotten about his talent. If Gordon continues to put in the work, he could be of great benefit to the first team once again.

Sai Akshay

I’m a football enthusiast and an avid writer and someone who lives by the Bill Shankly quote, on a day to day basis.