Forgotten Liverpool wonderkid finding success in unexpected European league

Liverpool had high hopes for Sheyi Ojo when the youngster was breaking through at Anfield, and the forward is now attempting to build his career on the continent

Sheyi Ojo was highly rated as a youngster coming through at Liverpool(Image: 2021 Liverpool FC)

Sheyi Ojo played a starring role for current club Maribor over the weekend, as he scored and registered an assist in a Slovenian top-flight game.

Ojo, who joined Maribor in 2024, has been a regular starter for the club this season, scoring twice and registering four assists in 20 appearances.

It's now 15 years since the 28-year-old joined the Liverpool academy after impressing for Milton Keynes Dons' youth teams as a young boy.

Ojo was a highly rated youngster during his time on Merseyside, but struggled to fulfil the promise from his academy days, and only made 13 appearances for Liverpool's first team – with just six of those coming as a starter.

Ojo signed long-term contracts with Liverpool in 2015 and 2018, so while his last appearance for the Reds came during the 2016-17 season, he did not leave the club until the expiry of his final contract, in the summer of 2022.

The attacker spent time on loan at Wigan, Wolves, Fulham, Reims, Rangers, Cardiff City and Millwall during his Liverpool career.

Upon the expiry of his Liverpool contract in 2024, he signed a two-year deal with Cardiff, but he struggled to make an impact with the Welsh club, and spent the second year of his Cardiff contract on loan at Belgian Pro League side K.V. Kortrijk.

Speaking in an interview with The Athletic in November 2024, Ojo spoke about the moment he felt that his Liverpool career was derailed.

In August 2016 – just weeks after Ojo had figured in eight of Liverpool's final 10 games of the 2015-16 Premier League season – the then teenager was diagnosed with a fracture in his back. He would go on to play just two more times for Liverpool, in FA Cup games during the 2016-17 campaign.

“I was really upset, to be honest," Ojo – who was also a regular for England across various age groups – said. "It didn’t break me because I’m still here but at the time I remember feeling heartbroken because I knew really that was my opportunity to properly kick on.

"It was a back injury and I was out for about four months. Even to this day, I remember that exact feeling. It was a hard one to take.”