Liverpool Youngster Jordan Ibe Shines as Reds Dispatch Valerenga

Liverpool fans were officially introduced to Jordan Ibe in the final game of last season when the 17-year-old made his Premier League debut against Queens Park Rangers.

He picked up an assist on Philippe Coutinho’s 23rd-minute goal, and if his showing during the ongoing preseason has done any more to put him in manager Brendan Rodgers plans—and it almost certainly has—the energetic attacker will be making introductions with top-flight defenders on a regular basis in 2013-14.

Against Norwegian side Valerenga in Wednesday’s friendly in Oslo, Ibe delivered the sort of performance his side have been itching to see from a left-sided playmaker on a regular basis and that Raheem Sterling produced in spells down the right after also breaking into Liverpool’s first-team squad as a 17-year-old nearly 12 months ago.

The prospect of the two of them both cutting in from the flanks and providing service to the likes of Coutinho, Luis Alberto and Iago Aspas (Luis Alberto and Aspas found the back of the net in the Norwegian capital, as did Martin Kelly and Sterling, himself) is one the Kop faithful are right to be drooling over and that both are young, immensely talented and English should only serve to boost their profiles.

Ibe, for one, is a player who looks as though he’ll have no problem living up to the promise he has shown so early. Against Valerenga, for example, he ran fearlessly at defenders, kept the ball close to his body while dribbling and attempted shots on target with both feet. He also linked up well with both Luis Alberto and Aspas, and whether in making a run or laying off a pass, he showed a penchant for quick decision-making so rare in players his age.

Of course, he has shown signs of being a bit special for some time.

Just over two years ago Ibe became Wycombe Wanderers’ youngest-ever goalscorer when, at age 15, he went on a swerving run from slightly inside the Sheffield Wednesday half that took him past one opponent and into a crowd of three others, before he unleashed a hard, right-footed drive that arrowed its way inside the far post.

And only a few weeks ago, during a round of preseason training in Indonesia, he stunned a handful of lookers-on with a screamer from distance that glanced the upright as it flew past the goalkeeper. Only a few days before that he found the back of the net in a friendly against Preston North End at Deepdale—a 4-0 win.

“Hopefully I can take [my current form] into the new season and stay consistent,” he told the Liverpool Echo following another impressive display against Melbourne Victory last month, during which he operated down the right-hand side of the park.

He added: “It was a big boost to make my first-team debut against Queens Park Rangers at Anfield on the final day of the season. To play in the Premier League, and on such a big occasion with it being Jamie Carragher’s final match before retirement, was a great experience for me.”

Keep it up and Ibe will have plenty more big occasions before it’s all said and done. And, who knows, 20 years from now a young player may speak in similarly glowing terms about making a debut in Ibe’s final match.