'I like him a lot' - Dominik Szobozslai raves about Liverpool youngster
- Dominik Szoboszlai gives opinion on young midfielder Trey Nyoni
- Teenager featured in pre-season win over Real Betis
- Liverpool have been handing chances to talented youngsters
Liverpool midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai has spoken glowingly about emerging youngster Trey Nyoni, who impressed with his performance against Real Betis during pre-season.
Nyoni replaced Curtis Jones half an hour into the friendly in Pittsburgh. He was later brought off himself in the second half but got more than 40 minutes on the pitch in the 1-0 win. For someone who celebrated his 17th birthday less than a month ago, the academy midfielder shone.
"I like him a lot, he is a really offensive player," Szobozlai said to Liverpool's in-house media.
"I just said on the bench to [Jarell] Quansah, you can’t even foul him because of his movements and stuff like this," the Hungary international added.
Liverpool are yet to make any new signings since a new sporting hierarchy headed up by a returning Michael Edwards was handed control, although young players appear to be taking opportunities.
"Everybody saw in the second half, Nat [Phillips] was a centre-back but otherwise everybody was young and almost none of them were 20. But they still did a good job, didn't concede a goal and had chances. So yeah, a good future," Szoboszlai commented.
Nyoni was born in Leicester and joined Liverpool's youth ranks as recently as last summer. The central midfielder quickly made an impact and was handed a first-team debut by former manager Jurgen Klopp during an FA Cup win over Southampton in February, when he was 16.
The youngster will be hoping for more minutes when Arne Slot's Reds are next in action with a pre-season friendly against Arsenal in Philadelphia on Wednesday. They will also face Manchester United in South Carolina before flying home in early August.
Jones made way for Nyoni against Real Betis because of injury, although Slot appeared to suggest it was a precautionary measure in the circumstances of pre-season.
"I think it's too early to tell [how bad it is]. He maybe could have played on, but I think maybe you could see he was not at 100 per cent,” the boss explained. "In a friendly game, with so many days coming up in our tour, it was best to take him off. Hopefully he can recover really fast, but we have to wait and see. We hope he recovers really fast so we can see him in the next few games."
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