Liverpool are due to fly out to USA on Tuesday for their pre-season tour, with the club confirming a 28-man squad who’ll make the transatlantic trip.
The full list was shared by LFC’s social media channels this afternoon, although there are some high-profile omissions from the travelling party.
As expected, 11 players who were involved in the latter stages of Euro 2024 or Copa America aren’t with the group as they’re still on holiday following those tournaments, and Jayden Danns also won’t be on the plane.
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The teenage striker is reportedly being targeted by Wayne Rooney for a loan move to Plymouth Argyle, although that isn’t the reason for him not going to the USA. Rather, it’s an injury concern which prevented him from playing against Preston last Friday that means he’s staying on Merseyside to focus on his recovery.
Our initial 28-man travelling squad for the Reds’ pre-season tour of the US pic.twitter.com/37as3Pjaoq
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 23, 2024
With Arne Slot bound to give first-team opportunities to a number of academy youngsters over the next fortnight – the likes of Marcelo Pitaluga, Amara Nallo, Lewis Koumas, Harvey Davies and Trey Nyoni are travelling – the timing of the injury blow has been highly unfortunate for Danns.
He’d surely have featured in some (maybe all) of the friendlies in the U.S. had it not been for that setback, but it’s believed to be only a ‘minor’ problem (James Pearce), so there seems a good chance that he’ll have recovered in time for our final pre-season fixture against Sevilla at Anfield on 11 August.
The 18-year-old, who earned even Roy Keane’s praise with his ‘amazing‘ two-goal salvo against Southampton in the FA Cup last term, will need to be patient for his chance to impress Liverpool’s new head coach – if indeed he isn’t loaned out to Argyle between now and the start of the Premier League campaign.
With competition for places in the Reds’ attack set to be fierce once the season get going, it mightn’t be the worst idea for Danns to go out on loan to a Championship side such as the Pilgrims if there’s little chance of him getting first-team action for us over the coming year.
Second-tier loans did wonders for the likes of Harvey Elliott, Tyler Morton and Fabio Carvalho, so it wouldn’t surprise us if LFC soon agree to a temporary exit for the teenage striker, but hopefully he’ll get a chance to shine once his teammates return from Stateside in early August.
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