Liverpool 20-year-old George Johnston has joined the first team in training on Tuesday as Jurgen Klopp’s men continue their pre-season preparations.
Pictured alongside Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the club’s official website, the promising centre back was joined by the likes of returning loan star Harry Wilson in taking part in the senior squad’s training sessions at Melwood.
Johnston, who was born in Manchester and is a Scotland under-21 international, has never featured competitively for the first team at Anfield and has not even been included on the substitutes’ bench, with under-23 football the highest level he has played at for the Reds.
He was a regular in their Premier League 2 campaign last season and captained the reserve side for much of the latter half of their season.
Opinion
Liverpool are not in desperate need of a new centre back but with Virgil van Dijk still yet to return to training after his international exploits for the Netherlands, it gives Klopp the ideal chance to have a look at a potential back up option for next season. Johnston is by no means the most imposing of defenders, standing at 5ft 10in tall [Transfermarkt], but then again the manager has not always relied on a player’s physical capabilities when it comes to his back line. Trent Alexander-Arnold is even more diminutive than the 20-year-old and has made a name for himself on the right side of defence and with an ability to play on the left as well as in the middle, it could be that Johnston finds himself switched around to find his best role. It will be interesting to see where Johnston is plying his trade once van Dijk is back among the first team but it seems he is highly thought of by Klopp already. Could he be the next breakthrough talent at Anfield? He has some serious hurdles to overcome – but that is all part of playing for a giant of English football.
