Arne Slot 'impressed' by Liverpool teenager who has been training with senior stars

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has been left "impressed" by a young talent emerging with the club's youth team and he made the senior bench at Sunderland on Wednesday

Kieran Morrison in action for Liverpool U21s.(Image: Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has been "impressed" by young attacking midfielder Kieran Morrison behind the scenes, with the 19-year-old making the senior bench midweek as the Reds beat Sunderland.

With Dominik Szoboszlai suspended and various other stars injured, Liverpool needed some extra depth in reserve at the Stadium of Light, and it was the 2006-born talent who was selected. According to U21s assistant coach Jay Spearing, Slot is a big fan.

"The Kieran one probably came last minute, so there was no preparation to warn him to say he was going to be involved," Spearing said on the official Liverpool FC podcast.

"But the boys who come less prepared are probably prepared better. If you prepare them more, they can overthink it and get a bit nervous. Listen, Kieran over the past two to three months, has really stepped up for our U21s side.

"He’s been training every so often with the first team and he's impressed the manager. He's been nominated for [Premier League 2] Player of the Month so is in a really good spot.

"For us as an academy was an unbelievable occasion to see him get the opportunity to be involved.

Morrison made his Liverpool debut in October 2025

"In the nicest way, we want them to be around the first team and then when they come back, in the nicest way, don't want to be around us. They want to get back there as quickly as they can.

"We speak to the manager most days, we're in his office quite a lot, we speak to him probably three-to-four times a week in his office planning sessions.

"So if the manager says who is playing well, if you're playing well and training well, your name is going to get put in front of him.

"He will want to see clips, he'll want to see videos, and that's what's happened to Kieran. Dom gets suspended so Kieran is the first name who gets mentioned.

"How did he play at the weekend? Fantastically well. Going down to 10 men (during a 1-1 draw against Southampton), he showed a different side of his game, a maturity — and there's the reward: the manager wants to pick you in his squad and what an occasion it is."

Morrison started in the League Cup earlier this season as Liverpool lost to Crystal Palace. He could get another chance to make the bench this weekend as the Reds take on Brighton at Anfield.

Liverpool.com says: Morrison is very talented but he needs to become more consistent. He has games where he is superb and others where he isn't that involved, and his output needs to be more spread across the season.

If that starts to click, he could take the next step. Certainly, he has a future ahead of him in the game and is already a Northern Ireland youth international.