Liverpool academy director Alex Inglethorpe has revealed that the club's young players are made to sign an unusual 'car clause' to help keep them grounded.
Liverpool's academy is known for producing world-class players on a regularly basis, with the likes of Michael Owen, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher all graduating to the first-team in the Premier League era.
Current Liverpool stars Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones also made the step up from the club's academy in recent years, while there are high hopes for several youngsters currently on the fringes of Jurgen Klopp's senior squad.
In a revealing interview with the We Are Liverpool podcast, Inglethorpe expressed his concerns over the pressure placed on young players in the modern game.He said the Merseyside club uses an unusual tactic to help keep the academy prospects grounded and allow them the best opportunity to succeed - using Andy Robertson as well as former players Jordan Henderson and James Milner as examples to follow.
"There's a balance, so what we now do is that the players sign up to a car clause. You don't want them driving in with a Range Rover," explained Inglethorpe."The reason you don't want them driving in with something which is too big, too grand, too much of a statement is because it's not just the manager and staff that might have an opinion on you but it's the senior players."I'm not sure that James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Andy Robertson, the first cars they drove, there would've been an element of humility and I use it in a presentation with the boys.
"You can't go into a race you're never going to win, I don't mean with the car, I mean with life, you can't think 'I am a first-team player because I have a better car'."We could afford to pay them more but we don't because I don't think that would be right, there's something around deferred gratification than instant, you should earn it a little bit and the players know if we don't approve of their car, they can park it in the David Lloyd [Gym] car park but it won't be in the Academy.
"I don't want to be an idiot about it but I don't want them to work 10 years for an audition and fail it before they've even set foot on the pitches."I want them to be safe, there are plenty of choices around safety [with cars], you're a young player in charge of two tonnes of metal, you've got to make sure that you take care of that responsibility."
Inglethorpe believes social media has increased the pressure on young footballers to present themselves in a particular way.
"I just think it's important, there is a little bit more about image with Instagram or TikTok or how many followers you've got, it's very easy for a young child to get wrapped up in the image of how you look or trying to keep up with a lifestyle that you have to and it's a race you can't win," he added.
"There's got to be an inner-confidence about how you are and I worry sometimes about the pressures of a young person now where their life is Instagram perfect."
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