Liverpool have nudged ahead of Premier League rivals in the race to sign Newcastle wonderkid Bobby Clark.
The 16-year-old midfielder is the son of former Magpies’ midfielder Lee Clark and is regarded as one of the club's hottest young academy prospects.
The news will come as a blow to the St James' Park outfit, who face losing a talent who has been widely earmarked for greater things.
Clark, who has already represented England at youth level, made his debut for Newcastle’s U18s back in September 2019 at the age of just 14.
The youngster’s talent has also alerted the likes of Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham.
However according to The Daily Mail, the Reds are in the driving seat to secure Clark’s signature due to their willingness to give youngsters a chance in their first team.
There were reports in May this year that Clark had been offered to Spurs, with the North London club subsequently turning down the chance to complete a deal for the youngster.
But Clark’s father, who made over 265 appearances for Newcastle over two spells, knocked back those claims in an Instagram post back in May, claiming that the story was ‘completely wrong’.
However, it now appears that Liverpool have stolen a march on their rivals as the chase for the teenager begins to heat up.
That will reportedly be a big factor in Clark’s decision as he weighs up his options.
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Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool have seen a number of promising youngsters from their own academy set-up breakthrough into the senior ranks.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was given his debut by Klopp at just 18 and quickly established himself as a key component in a Liverpool side that has since tasted both European and domestic success.
More recently, Klopp has introduced both Neco Williams and Curtis Jones into the first team fold, along with defender Nat Phillips who featured on a consistent basis after Virgil Van Dijk suffered his season-ending injury.
There are other promising youngsters, such as goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher and Harvey Elliott, who are expected to be in and around the first team this year.
Recently, Liverpool’s assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders touched on the club’s pathway for youngsters to senior football.
Lijnders told Liverpool : “I really believe that the most important and decisive factor in creating players through the Academy is hope, that they know first-team staff wants to do it.
“The inside path deserves space in our squad, talent deserves opportunities. With time, this faith and patience will pay off with players like Trent, Curtis, Neco, Caoimhin, Rhys, Nat, Harvey and so on. The next ones are here with us, that’s one thing that’s for sure. We just need to show belief.”
It seems as if that philosophy will pay dividends in this instance, will Clark appearing to be on the verge of swapping Tyneside for Merseyside to link up initially with Marc Bridge-Wilkinson’s U18 side.
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