Liverpool record-breaker Ben Woodburn has begun pre-season training with Preston North End after being released by the Reds this summer.
Woodburn is currently on a two-week trial with the Championship side as he bids to get into shape in the midst of uncertainty around his future. The Lilywhites boss Ryan Lowe is looking to make additional signings, having only managed to bring in Freddie Woodman from Newcastle thus far.
Lowe said of Woodburn on his side's return to pre-season training: "Ben Woodburn has been a fantastic player, he’s represented Wales at a young age of 17 and represented Liverpool. He’s 22 years of age and I’ve followed his career for a while, from when he was at Liverpool. I tried to do a deal to get him down to Plymouth when I first came down there, but he’d obviously been playing at a higher level.
"Obviously his contract’s now ended at Liverpool. He was up with Hearts in Scotland last season and he’s a fantastic talent. We’re hoping we can get a tune out of him. He’s going to be with us for a few weeks and it’s over to Ben now to showcase what he’s really about, because with the likes of Ben who have probably had a little bit of a dip in form of late over the years, we’re coaches and managers that want to try and bring the best back out of young lads like him.
"He’ll be with us for a little while. He’s a fantastic kid, he’s trained fantastically well today, a good footballer, but there’s probably one or two more as well that’ll probably come in with us over the pre-season training because it’s good that we can have a look at them and they can get a look at us.
"Ben won’t be the only one, there will hopefully be another one or two in who can come training with us, and we will get a good feel for them."
HAVE YOUR SAY!! What did you make of Woodburn's time at Liverpool? Have your say in the comment section below...
The young midfielder came through the ranks at Liverpool before becoming the youngest-ever goalscorer in 2016, scoring against Leeds aged 17 years, 45 days. "We know what Ben’s capable of," Jurgen Klopp said after Woodburn beat Michael Owen's record by 98 days.
"My first job is to help these boys be the best. There’s a lot of things to do, especially to keep the public away as long as possible. That’s quite a difficult thing to do." But since then Woodburn failed to deliver on his potential at Anfield, making only 11 outings in six seasons.
As a result, he had loans spells at Sheffield United, Oxford United, Blackpool and most recently at Hearts before pursuing a new challenge.
