Liverpool have beaten Villarreal to the signing of former Barcelona defender Juanma, according to the Liverpool Echo. The 19 year old has been on trial with the Reds during preseason and he has impressed enough to be offered a long term contract with the Merseyside club.
It is not expected that he will be included in the first team squad for the new season but he will be part of Michael Beale’s Under 23 squad for this campaign.
The Spaniard will sign with the Reds subject to a medical and will join fellow Spaniards Pedro Chirivella and Madger Gomes who he has played alongside at youth level for Spain.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has recently praised the work of the Academy staff bringing through young players to the first team. It was expected that the German would bring more of his own staff from Germany into the youth setup to replicate the success he had developing talented players like Mario Gotze at Borussia Dortmund, but he is keen to keep the likes of Beale in place due to their achievements at the Academy.
