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Innocent Kurira – [email protected]
LIVERPOOL coach Arne Slot has suggested midfielder Trey Nyoni needs to grow his body if he is to play English Premier League football.
Nyoni was born on June 30, 2007 in England to Zimbabwean parents, which means he is eligible to play for England, his country of birth, or Zimbabwe through his family.
Slot acknowledged the midfielder is vastly talented but his body stature is of concern for now.
Nyoni produced an impressive performance when Liverpool defeated Real Betis 1-0 in their opening pre-season game in the USA on Saturday.
Nyoni replaced Curtis Jones in the 31st minute after he went off with an injury.
”He was one of the reasons we scored. I think he did really well today but it was only an hour,” said Arne Slot, who was a little reserved in praising the youngster.
“Like I said, he did well. He was one of the reasons why we scored the goal, because he turned really quickly and [played] a spot-on pass in between the lines.
“And he was also involved in the biggest chance in the second half. So he did well. But he’s just turned 17 and his body has to grow, and we are really careful with him.
“So he doesn’t join every session and sometimes he goes out a bit earlier because he only turned 17 and you can see his quality but you can also see his body still needs some time to grow to play at Premier League level. But he showed some interesting things today.”
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16-year-old Nyoni joined the Reds in September 2023 made his senior debut in February 2024.
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