Forgotten Liverpool star returns to training 14 months after last Reds appearance

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Arne Slot was able to welcome a player back to first-team training on Wednesday as Liverpool approaches the final few weeks of the season with Champions League qualification close

Arne Slot has welcomed a player back to Liverpool training this week(Image: Getty Images)

Liverpool has been boosted by the return of James McConnell to first-team training this week, with the youngster back in the frame for Arne Slot’s side during the final few weeks of the season.

The Reds have been running low on options as injuries have struck at a bad time. Alisson Becker and Joe Gomez were both confirmed to have missed training on Wednesday as Slot looks set to be without seven players for this weekend’s encounter with Crystal Palace.

With a maximum of nine points needed to secure a top-five finish and Champions League qualification, the Liverpool boss will be eager to have as many options as he can available for the final few fixtures of the season, and it looks as though a new name could be in the running for the remainder of the campaign.

According to This Is Anfield’s Jack Lusby, young midfielder McConnell was involved in first-team training on Wednesday.

The 21-year-old returned to Liverpool in January after spending the first half of the season on loan at Ajax. McConnell followed John Heitinga to Amsterdam, but found his opportunities severely limited after the former Reds coach was fired, with just seven appearances to his name in the Netherlands.

Having made his way back to Merseyside, he subsequently underwent surgery to address an injury issue and has been involved with the U21s recently as he steps up his recovery.

James McConnell spent the first half of the season on loan at Ajax(Image: 2025 BSR Agency)

McConnell recently played in friendlies against Paris Saint-Germain and the i2i Football Academy, and could now be in contention to add to his 13 senior appearances for Liverpool during the final month of the season.

Slot is known to be a big fan of McConnell, having lavished him with praise last season, even going as far as to rule out a January loan move after seeing him in action against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League.

"There is definitely one of them that will not go on loan," Slot said after naming a young team for the Reds’ final league phase game. "I think you know which one I mean: James McConnell.

"I wouldn’t say definitely, but I liked him a lot today, so maybe now the end result today would be it’d be good for him to go somewhere and play. He was also a player that hasn’t played 90 minutes in the last six or seven months because he was injured for a while. He impressed me a lot."

Liverpool.com says: Hopefully McConnell might get the chance to feature for the first team before the end of the season - not least because that would probably mean the Reds have wrapped up Champions League qualification early.

McConnell has impressed when he has been given the opportunity in the past. His loan spell at Ajax didn’t work out, but hopefully he can get back on track in time for next season.