Liverpool have told defender Neco Williams that they will allow him to go out on loan next season to give him valuable game-time ahead of the World Cup.
The Wlesh international is a target for Premier League new-boys Nottingham Forest and Fulham. And the Reds are happy for the 21-year–old full-back to go and further his education with regular top-flight football.
Williams, who came through Liverpool ’s academy after joining the club at the age of six, helped Wales qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 64 years this month when they beat Ukraine in the play-offs in Cardiff.
He is expected to start for Robert Page’s team in Qatar in November when they face England, Iran and the USA in the group stages. Wrexham-born Williams made 23 appearances for Liverpool last season and already has a Premier League title medal. He also has Champions League experience and has won 20 caps for his country.
And both Forest and Fulham believe he can help them survive in the top-flight after winning promotion last season. Forest boss Steve Cooper spent three years as manager of Liverpool’s academy, so he knows Williams well and has a reputation for working well with young players. But Fulham have already done business with Liverpool this summer after selling teenage Portuguese winger Fabio Carvalho to the Reds in a deal worth £5million plus add-ons.
Meanwhile, the Reds have brought back former midfielder Jay Spearing to work in a coaching capacity with the club's U18s. Spearing skippered Liverpool to FA Youth Cup glory in 2007, and will link up with U18 boss Marc Bridge-Wilkinson fellow coach and Tim Jenkins at the academy.
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Spearing, 33, made 55 appearances for Liverpool between 2008 and 2012 before he left Anfield for Bolton. He subsequently played for Blackburn, Blackpool and was most recently at Tranmere where he was skipper until leaving the Wirral outfit at the end of last season. Liverpool academy manager Alex Inglethorpe confirmed he will also be eligible to play for the club's U23 side alongside his coaching duties.
Inglethorpe said: "It's fantastic to welcome Jay back to the Academy and he will work with the U18s as a full-time coach. Jay will work with Bridgey and Tim and he will be actively involved on the training field with our young players. He will also be eligible to play for the U21s to provide experience for the young players when we need him. Jay is still quite young and the impact he can have around the U18s is invaluable because he is someone who lives and breathes this club. More important, Jay has played across all four divisions, so I think he will be a really good addition for us."
