The 17-year-old Liverpool striker with 8 goals in his last 5 games

Liverpool may be struggling to find the back of the net at first-team level, but young striker Max Woltman is on fire in the academy, with eight goals in his last five games.

Since the start of February, Jurgen Klopp‘s side have scored just 12 goals in 12 games in the Premier League, and at home their record is particularly poor, with four scored in seven outings in that time.

Meanwhile, in the same period, the Liverpool under-18s have struck 42 times in 13 fixtures, including three times scoring six in a game.

They are the U18 Premier League‘s top scorers, and though the title is now out of their grasp, it has been an undoubtedly positive season for Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and his squad.

That is despite losing their leading goalscorer, Layton Stewart, towards the end of 2020 as he joined the under-23s on a regular basis, before suffering a season-ending ACL injury in March.

Stewart, with 15, remains the U18s’ chart-topper, but there is a very real possibility that he is leapfrogged before the campaign is over.

This is due to the exceptional form of Woltman as the next in line up front, with the 17-year-old from the Wirral scoring 12 and assisting eight in 27 games at academy level this season.

Eight of his goals have come in his last five appearances, as Woltman strikes a rich vein of form in front of goal in the hope of making a lasting impression on those watching on.

Braces have been scored against Wolves, Leeds, Leicester and Middlesbrough, with a reprieve afforded to Burnley, and a fine array of finishes have been displayed.

With the young Reds in full flow and the likes of Mateusz Musialowski, James Balagizi, Kaide Gordon and Melkamu Frauendorf around him, Woltman is playing with the sort of free-scoring abandon that earned him recognition at junior level with Greenleas FC.

Like Jay Spearing before them, Woltman and fellow academy standouts Tyler Morton and Sean Wilson were all spotted while playing for Greenleas, soon making Kirkby their home.

Woltman signed his first professional contract with Liverpool in January, and he has continued to prove his worth in a variety of roles across the forward line, interchanging with Musialowski in particular.

The teenager won’t turn 18 until August, but his numbers not only in terms of scoring and assisting but also his availability – as no academy player has featured more often this season – will be an attractive proposition for the higher-ups.

Whether Vitor Matos has flagged him as one for the near future yet is unclear, but eight goals in five games is the type of form that deserves recognition, and surely that will soon follow.