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Contract signed: Liverpool confirm deal for wonderkid who’s regularly in touch with World Cup winner
Keyrol Figueroa Norales (2nd R) of the United States celebrates after scoring a goal during the group E match of the FIFA World Cup U17. Xinhua

Liverpool’s commitment to promoting young talent is in evidence once again as the club confirmed some very welcome news on Tuesday.

As per liverpoolfc.com, Keyrol Figueroa has signed his first professional contract with the Reds, with the 17-year-old having worked his way up the academy ranks since joining LFC as an under-14s player.

The son of former Wigan and Honduras defender Maynor Figueroa, the teenage striker is a USA youth international and played for his country in the Under-17 World Cup last year.

Figueroa Jr. already has some friends in very high places in European football – he’s the regular recipient of WhatsApp messages from 2018 World Cup winner Antoine Griezmann, who plans on becoming an agent when he ends his playing career and has taken a personal interest in the Liverpool teenager (Daily Star).

The youngster caught the eye when playing for the Reds’ under-18s during the SuperCupNI last summer, scoring a phenomenal goal in a 1-1 draw against their Valencia counterparts.

He famously scored a whopping 90 goals in one season as an under-14 player on Merseyside and has netted three times in eight outings in the Under-18 Premier League this term, a tally which surely would’ve been higher except for injury problems and regular international duty (Liverpool Echo).

Figueroa has something in common with quite a few other promising youngsters at Liverpool – along with Jayden Danns, Bobby Clark and Lewis Koumas, he’s the son of a former top-flight footballer and therefore perfectly placed to receive sound guidance from outside the club as well as inside.

We extend our congratulations to him on the significant milestone of signing a first professional contract, and hopefully he can go on to make a telling impact in the Reds’ first team in years to come.

This article first appeared on Empire of the Kop and was syndicated with permission.

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