Liverpool: 5 Youth Players Who Could Break Out for the Reds Next Season

The end of Liverpool’s 2012/13 season was always going to be about saying goodbye to the old, but it also turned into a chance to say hello to the new.

Jamie Carragher’s retirement, of course, made all of the headlines as the campaign came to a close, but Brendan Rodgers also used the final two Premier League games of the season to give league debuts to two of his young stars.

Having started in the 1-0 Europa League loss at Anzhi Makhachkala in November, Conor Coady made his Premier League bow as a late substitute in the 3-1 win at Fulham. A week later, Jordon Ibe started and impressed as the Reds brought the curtain down on their season with a 1-0 home win over Queens Park Rangers.

But who will be the next graduates from Liverpool’s Academy?

Eliminating players who have already made a first team appearance―i.e. the likes of Coady, Ibe, Adam Morgan and Liverpool’s youngest ever player in Jerome Sinclair―here we take a look at five of next season’s hopefuls.

Lloyd Jones

Right now, no one is closer to achieving a Liverpool first-team debut than Welsh centre-back Lloyd Jones.

The 17-year-old was an unused substitute for the win at Fulham earlier this month when Rodgers was without the services of Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel. Jones watched on from the bench as Carragher, Sebastian Coates and Andre Wisdom lined up in a three-man back line.

Carragher has now retired, and there are question marks over the futures of Coates and Skrtel at the club. Although Liverpool are widely expected to bring in at least of couple of central defenders over the summer, the towering Jones could see this as an opportunity to take his impressive youth form to a higher level.

Ryan McLaughlin

Northern Irish full-back Ryan McLaughlin has featured for Liverpool's first team in a preseason friendly―against Roma and Francesco Totti in the grand setting of Boston's Fenway Park, no less―but he still hasn't played in a competitive game.

Although he is competing with the likes of Glen Johnson, Martin Kelly, Jon Flanagan and Wisdom for a place in the side, that first appearance should surely come in the new season for a player who was once called into the senior Northern Ireland squad only to pull out because of injury.

Pacy and good going forward, McLaughlin very much fits the stereotype of the modern full-back, and he could impress his fellow Northern Irishman Rodgers enough to feature next season.

Jordan Lussey

Midfielder Jordan Lussey, an 18-year-old, has seen call-ups for England youth sides ruined by injury, but he remains a key player for Liverpool's youngsters.

The captain of the team that reached the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup last month, Lussey has a fine range of passing. His ability to score from long range has also led to inevitable comparisons with Reds captain Steven Gerrard.

The fact that Lussey is from Ormskirk―just north of Liverpool―has only encouraged those Gerrard comparisons, and if he has a career half as successful as the England captain, he's sure to have done well.

Jack Dunn

Another locally produced talent, Jack Dunn starred in the Reds side that reached the FA Youth Cup's last four.

Appearances in the NextGen Series matches have only improved Dunn's all-round game. The fact that the attacking midfielder can also operate in forward positions is sure to appeal to Rodgers.

A former captain of the under-16s side, Dunn has excelled each time he's been asked to make a step up, and perhaps the first team will be next.

Kristoffer Peterson

An arrival from Sweden in January 2011, winger Kristoffer Peterson was the inspiration behind much of what the under-18s achieved in the season just gone.

Lively and quick, the 18-year-old has recovered well from a number of injuries and formed an impressive attacking partnership with Ibe which he'll hope he can take into the first team on a regular basis.

The Gothenburg-born youngster is tipped for a bright future, and he'll hope to stake realising some of that potential very soon.