Liverpool consider handing FA Cup debut to 16-year-old Ki-Jana Hoever
Liverpool have handed 16-year-old Ki-Jana Hoever a first-team jersey ahead of him potentially becoming the club’s youngest FA Cup player on Monday night.
Hoever will be named in the travelling squad to face Wolves. He will be the third youngest Liverpool player of all time if he features, but their youngest in this competition.
He is competing with another teenager, Rafa Camacho, for a place at right-back in a much-changed line-up. Camacho, an 18-year-old from Portugal, is more likely to start.
But Liverpool pressed a jersey for Hoever over the weekend and he will wear No 51, which indicates at the least he may take a position on the bench. It demonstrates his rapid rise since joining from Ajax last summer, opportunities emerging after injuries to Joe Gomez and Joel Matip and the exit of Nathaniel Clyne to Bournemouth.
Although Klopp could make 11 changes from the starting line-up at Manchester City, with Virgil van Dijk definitely rested, there will still be plenty of senior players at Molineux.
Klopp is particularly enthusiastic about Adam Lallana’s form, revealing how close the midfielder was to starting against City on Thursday. Lallana has recovered from numerous injuries but has been unable to get the game time he needs because of Liverpool’s form.
“Adam is actually in outstanding shape. It’s unbelievable,” said Klopp. “It was close in the last game whether we started him or not.
“Adam is in the best moment since I’ve known him as a person and he will have a big part of our season. In training, everything was good.”
Liverpool’s biggest issue is who to play centre-back.
Meanwhile, Wolves will discover in the next 48 hours whether they can sign Chelsea striker Tammy Abraham on loan.
The deal will go ahead if the club receive Fifa approval. Abraham has played for Chelsea in the Community Shield and an under-23s game, while he also has played on loan at Aston Villa.
Under Fifa rules, no player can feature in matches for more than two clubs but Wolves believe the under-23s game, and the Community Shield, do not count as official and the move has been cleared by the Football Association and Premier League.
The FA Cup fourth-round draw will be made after the game on Monday night by Wolves old boys Robbie Keane and Carl Ikeme at 9.45pm and will screened live on BBC 1.
