Liverpool are casting a close eye over some of the finest talents on the continent, with a senior club scout attending games at the U21 European Championships.
As would be usual at most major tournaments, Liverpool have a presence to ensure they are keeping tabs on the progress of the brightest prospects around, as do many other clubs.
Having the club’s head of scouting and recruitment at the tournament, though, is perhaps a sign that something rather more than just the usual ongoing assessments are being made.
That’s the role of Dave Fallows, who works closely with chief scout Barry Hunter, and it’s he who is at the U21 Euros in Italy.
He’s responsible for drawing up the information and reports which are in turn utilised by Hunter, Michael Edwards and, in turn, Jurgen Klopp when considering new additions to the team.
Of course, since it’s the U21 Euros, it could be players further down the club hierarchy which are being looked at.
Kamil Grabara starred for Poland U21s in their opening couple of group games, before a heavy defeat to Spain in the last group fixture saw the Reds’ starlet and his team eliminated.
The names partaking at the U21 Euros range from Real Madrid’s Dani Ceballos, Fiorentina’s Federico Chiesa and Man United-bound Aaron Wan-Bissaka, to far less heralded names who are still teenagers, playing in B or youth teams and who have no senior experience.
As the Reds’ seemingly imminent capture of 17-year-old Sepp van den Berg shows, though, absence of years doesn’t necessarily mean low interest or quality in a player.
With a shake-up of the club’s U23 set-up, in particular, likely this summer, there’s every chance that Fallows and his scouting crew are looking for the potential first-teamers of tomorrow, rather than running a final assessment on someone to immediately add to Klopp’s squad.
For those who might be interested to speculate over those the Reds have previously been linked with, the following players were all listed in squads competing at the finals.
Sando Tonali (Italy); Dani Ceballos and Junior Firpo (Spain); Jonathan Tah and Benjamin Henrichs (Germany); Philip Billing (Denmark); Andrija Zivkovic (Serbia); Lloyd Kelly, Ezri Konsa, James Maddison and Ryan Sessegnon (England); Ibrahima Konate, Dayot Upamecano and Houssem Aouar (France).
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