Liverpool Confidential: Reds in talks over Wrexham clash in New York City, Arne Slot and Richard Hughes shrug off the doubters and 15-year-old wonderkid Joshua Abe earns first-team boost as top clubs circle

Liverpool are weighing up the possibility of returning to the United States for their pre-season tour this summer with several money-spinning options on the cards.

The Reds went across the pond in summer 2024 with three wins out of three in Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and the South Carolina outpost of Columbia, which were all well attended and brought in several streams of income.

After jetting over to Asia with a two-stop tour of Hong Kong and Japan in the pre-season just gone, the Reds are now exploring a return to America.

It is understood talks have taken place with Championship promotion hopefuls and Hollywood-backed Wrexham over a friendly in New York City.

The Welsh club have also had discussions with Manchester United and Newcastle over potential pre-season games, and not just in America. Phil Parkinson’s side are on the promotion charge again, sitting in the play-off spots in the Championship.

The two teams have not faced off in a competitive match since the 1978 League Cup quarter-final, when Kenny Dalglish scored a hat-trick in North Wales.

Hollywood-backed Wrexham, once again on the promotion charge in the Championship, are potential opponents in New York City

Liverpool could return to Yankee Stadium, where they drew 2-2 with Bruno Fernandes’ Sporting Lisbon on their last visit in 2019

While America is not agreed on or officially signed as the pre-season destination of choice, Liverpool like the idea of returning there for several reasons.

Firstly, it is a guaranteed commercial win that can piggy-back off the World Cup in North America this summer. The omens are good also given they won the Premier League title on the back of their last visit there and club staffers liked that trip given the relatively short flight time to the east coast, large hotels and facilities available for training, plus how easy it is to get around.

The MetLife Stadium is a venue for the World Cup, including the final however Yankee Stadium, home to the baseball powerhouse, could be used. The Reds have experience in the Bronx, having beaten Manchester City on penalties there in 2014 after a 2-2 draw and then also played out a 2-2 draw with Sporting Lisbon in 2019.

Liverpool recently planted their flag in South Africa by signing a commercial deal but no plans to play a game there are under way just yet. The Reds have played in Australia in the not-too-distant past but travel time and jet lag often puts some top clubs off.

Slot and Hughes’ united front

Was it deliberate? Could you read between the lines to find a message? Were their words choreographed?

We don’t know the answers to those questions about the Standard Chartered round-table between Arne Slot, sporting director Richard Hughes and CEO Billy Hogan that came out this week – but whether the answer be yes or no, it certainly helped.

It helped with their public image and most definitely helped with fan understanding of the hardships Slot and Hughes have had to face in the last six months.

Whether you are hardened backers of the pair or vocal dissenters, you can agree that in sitting together – recapping their first 18 months at the club and throwing it forward to the next year or so – they did their reputation no harm.

Sporting director Richard Hughes and manager Arne Slot have come in for criticism this season but let’s not forget how recently they were lauded

Both have been hounded in recent weeks and months. Some of it has been fair, lots has been hot-headed and overstepped the line between calm debate and conjecture. To sit in front of a camera, albeit hardly facing a grilling like politicians get on Question Time, was a positive.

Criticism of the sporting director is easy because transfers are what makes the world go round in the eyes of fans but lest we forget six months ago, the Scotsman was being lauded as ‘Big Moves Hughes’ following a £450million spree.

Summer buys faltered and there are gaps in the squad – not signing a defender may come back to bite them – but it appears any new signing in January would have simply been a short-term solution.

As for Slot, it is fair to concede that this season has not been good enough. You can hold that view while also respecting the seismic achievement of last year and it is that title triumph we should always keep in mind when debating his future.

This season could still end up with a seventh European Cup and/or FA Cup triumph, plus finishing in the Champions League places, and clearly, based on the noises from the hierarchy, Slot retains firm backing.

When is Bradley back? 

There have been some rumours this week that Conor Bradley is going to be on the treatment table for longer than first feared.

With injuries so serious as this one – the right back suffered bone and ligament damage when going down at Arsenal last month – there is obviously the chance that those murmurs could end up being correct.

As it stands, those with knowledge of the situation do not have a definite return date for Bradley. It is understood he had a planned check-up on his knee on Tuesday morning in Manchester and is still hopeful of being back for the start of next season, with him not fully ruled out of the World Cup should Northern Ireland get there via the play-offs.

Conor Bradley suffered a brutal knee injury at Arsenal last month in the Reds’ 0-0 draw

Jacquet’s tough learning curve 

Liverpool’s new signing Jeremy Jacquet will be learning things every week and will come to England rich in experience despite, in reality, only having 18 months of top-level football under his belt.

In his last three games, Rennes have three defeats by an aggregate score of 9-0. In his next two assignments, Jacquet’s side will travel to second-placed Lens before hosting European champions and Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain.

It won’t get any easier and, while he may not exactly stand out as his team are leaking goals, at least he is busy!

If you want to know more about the 20-year-old, his upbringing, how the deal was done and what the French experts are saying about him, have a look at my in-depth read from Tuesday.

Jeremy Jacquet (right) has been learning the hard way in recent weeks as his Rennes side have leaked goals

Scant consolation for crocked Danns 

Jayden Danns would be part of Arne Slot’s first-team squad had he been fit right now, according to the manager.

The striker has had rotten luck with injuries in recent years, spending the second half of last season on loan at Sunderland only to not play a single minute or even train with the team.

Given Alexander Isak is out until mid-March – the Swede is no longer reliant on his wheeled crutch but is still a way off returning – Liverpool could have done with back-up for Hugo Ekitike, whose minutes are being closely monitored given he is new to English football.

Slot said last week Danns would have featured if he was fit which is sod’s law for the talented striker.

The same is true for young defender Wellity Lucky, who Slot made a beeline for at the AXA Training Centre earlier this week as he arrived wearing a protective boot.

Lucky, the 20-year-old defender, was embraced by the boss who might have called upon him during a recent injury crisis in that position. The Spain-born star made his first-team debut in October but is currently ruled out for a number of months.

Jayden Danns has had rotten luck with injuries in recent seasons

Slovak pain for young Reds 

Liverpool started so well in Slovakia against Zilina in the UEFA Youth League round of 32 but eventually succumbed to a 2-1 defeat by a strong side in front of a bumper crowd of 10,572.

The Slovakian side, whose academy produced the likes of former Inter Milan and PSG centre back Milan Skriniar, Burnley goalkeeper Martin Dubravka and Atletico Madrid defender David Hancko, perhaps are more accustomed to the atmosphere.

It ends their Youth League campaign in which players like Trent Kone-Doherty and Kieran Morrison have taken extra steps while Carter Pinnington has impressed in multiple positions.

Can Liverpool hold onto Abe?

It was also interesting to see 15-year-old Joshua Abe make his debut off the bench in the Youth League, the youngest Reds star to do so in that competition.

As Confidential has previously reported, Abe has a long list of suitors trying to poach him and he has also just signed for PLG Agency which represents the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson but also academy lads like Luke Chambers and Calvin Ramsay.

It is believed he turned down other high-profile agents in bids to represent him and was recently spotted at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu.

Abe also trained with the first team last week, though it was the day after the Qarabag match when many key men were on recovery sessions.

While there is indeed interest in him, Abe – whose family are Arsenal fans – may well see that his best route to first-team football, at least at a top club, is probably by staying put at Liverpool.

Joshua Abe has a long list of suitors trying to poach him from Liverpool’s academy

Max powers Reds to win

Alisson Becker ran straight over to one individual on Saturday an Ekitike goal. Not the goalscorer but the ball boy behind the Brazlian’s goal, who I believe was Under 15s player Max Rowland.

It was Rowland’s quick thinking that helped the Reds goalkeeper take a quick goal-kick and, in turn, set in motion a rapid counter-attack that led to a goal at the other end seconds later.

Alisson Becker handed due credit to a ball boy who helped Liverpool turn around their match against Newcastle last weekend

So it was nice for Alisson to give the ball assistant credit with a hug and he was later congratulated by other Liverpool first-team stars.

Most of the ball-kids are academy players and fans may remember a sub-plot of the famous Champions League semi-final against Barcelona when a ball boy, Oakley Cannonier, ‘assisted’ Trent Alexander-Arnold’s famous quickly taken corner in that comeback victory.

Cannonier, now 21, has had a tough couple of years with injury but is stepping up his recovery now.

The Leeds-born former England youth international had a prolific record until his fitness issues and had a trial at Leeds United in the summer but remains at Liverpool.