Liverpool's World Cup Talent Hunt Expands to USA and Australia
Liverpool’s World Cup talent hunt is widening by the day, and it now stretches from Leipzig to Colorado.
The chase for Yan Diomande remains the headline act. The 19-year-old RB Leipzig winger has lit up the World Cup with Ivory Coast, his debut against Ecuador pushing Liverpool to signal it is prepared to go to around $115 million (€100m) to get him out of Germany. Victor Munoz has already arrived this week, another piece of business pointing to a long-term rebuild of the forward line.
But while Diomande dominates the noise, Liverpool’s recruitment department has quietly opened another front.
Liverpool scouts track Australian teenager in MLS
According to The Athletic, Liverpool dispatched scouts to watch Australia international Lucas Herrington this season, long before the wider world really clocked his name. The 18-year-old centre-back left Brisbane Roar for Colorado Rapids in January, swapping the A-League for MLS and, almost immediately, the relative anonymity of Denver for the glare of a World Cup squad.
Herrington is with Australia at the tournament, though he is still waiting for his first minutes. He has been named on the bench against both Turkey and the USA, yet his reputation has grown without a kick of the ball in the competition. Within scouting circles, he is already being talked about as one of the most promising young defenders in the game.
Colorado moved early. The Rapids are said to have tied up a deal with him well before his 18th birthday, anticipating exactly this surge of European interest. At one point, they even had the chance to flip him for a profit before he had played a single competitive minute for the club.
Padraig Smith, the Rapids president, made no attempt to play down the scale of the talent when speaking to Yahoo! Sports. “He is an exceptionally talented young man with the world at his feet,” Smith said. “When our scouts identified him, and we began the recruitment process, we knew he had a high ceiling.”
Those inside the dressing room are just as convinced. Former Arsenal defender Rob Holding, now Herrington’s teammate in Colorado, offered a simple, telling verdict: “He’s super composed. Super relaxed, on the ball, under pressure. He’s a really good player. He just keeps getting better and better each week.”
Barcelona in the mix – and Rapids ready to drive a hard bargain
Liverpool is not alone. Barcelona has already tested Colorado’s resolve with a bid for Herrington. That offer was rejected, falling short of the Rapids’ valuation, and talks are not active at the moment. Whether the La Liga champion returns with an improved proposal remains to be seen, but the message from MLS is clear: this will not be a bargain.
The Rapids are expected to demand an MLS-record fee for a centre-back if they decide to cash in. The current benchmark was also set in Colorado, when Moise Bombito moved to Nice for an initial $7.7m, a deal padded with add-ons and a sell-on clause. Any move for Herrington would need to go beyond that figure, reflecting both his potential and the growing confidence inside the club that they have another major asset on their hands.
For Liverpool, that price tag would sit within a broader strategy rather than as a one-off punt. The club has already moved decisively to freshen up its defensive core this year. Mor Talla Ndiaye joined the academy in January, Ifeanyi Ndukwe is due to follow this summer, and 20-year-old Jeremy Jacquet will arrive from Rennes next month to link up with the senior squad.
One by one, the pieces are being put in place.
Diomande at the sharp end. A cluster of young defenders in behind. And now, potentially, an 18-year-old Australian in MLS who has yet to start a World Cup game but already has Liverpool and Barcelona circling.
If this is the next phase of Liverpool’s rebuild, the question is no longer whether they are targeting the right markets. It’s which of these teenagers will be the one to define the next era at Anfield.
