Liverpool’s first team may have recently switched to their new £50million training ground on the site of the Academy at Kirkby.
But already the next generation is making their own move into the senior set-up.
Such was the compelling evidence as Jurgen Klopp’s young contingent helped the Reds secure progress to the knockout stages of the Champions League with a game to spare.
Narrow but deserved victory over Ajax at Anfield owed much to the combination of a 19-year-old duo at one end of the field and the intervention of a European debutant at the other.
When Neco Williams’ deep cross was prodded home cleverly by Curtis Jones shortly before the hour, it was the first time teenagers had combined for a Liverpool goal in the competition.
And with shock starter Caoimhin Kelleher – in for the hamstrung Alisson Becker – saving superbly late on from Ajax substitute Klaas-Jan Huntelaar to preserve his clean sheet, the misstep here last week against Atalanta was rendered irrelevant.
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With Klopp’s views on the schedule well known, that Liverpool will next week travel to take on FC Midtjylland as Group D winners – thanks to Atalanta’s draw against the Danes on Tuesday night – affords the Reds boss a chance to rest some players.
Not that there has been much scope for rotation, such have been the injuries that have severely compromised his options for much of the campaign and pushed the Academy players to the fore.
How they have responded. And come the final whistle, the starting trio had been joined by Rhys Williams, another to have made the most of his surprise opportunity.
That it was Jones who proved the matchwinner was apt given the manner in which he performed in midfield with maturity beyond his tender years.
And Neco Williams thoroughly deserved the bearhug he received from Klopp after responding to a difficult week with an increasingly impressive display at right-back. The Welshman is clearly made of tough stuff.
With next Wednesday’s final group game now a dead rubber, it’s almost certain the likes of Jake Cain and Leighton Clarkson could see first-team action.
Klopp won’t think twice. He knows the kids are more than alright.
