Liverpool’s Harry Wilson Is Looking To Stick Around

Harry Kane is grabbing a lot of the attention during England’s World Cup exploits in Russia this weekend, but back in England, his namesake Harry Wilson is aiming to cement a role for himself in Jürgen Klopp’s first team Liverpool side. The younger Harry got his preseason off to an excellent start, picking up a brace during the Reds’ 7-0 outing against Chester on Saturday.

Wilson, who had just one half of football in which to make his impression, looked lively and intent on demonstrating that his eye-catching performances for Hull City while on loan were not a fluke. He showed a good poacher’s instinct to be in the right place at the right time for his first, while smartly converting what was still not exactly an easy chance. For his second, off an excellent Curtis Jones pass, Wilson had to stay calm under pressure and take advantage of a split second window of opportunity. He did both.

Which is not to say there isn’t room for improvement. There was an early lapse in concentration that led to a loss of possession and an excellent chance for Chester - a better side might have punished it more ruthlessly. And more experienced opposing players in the Premier League are unlikely to afford Wilson the same latitude to roam. It was still an encouraging start, and the young player knows he needs to take his chance.

“There’s a lot of us young ones who’ve either come back from loan or made the step up from the U23s,” he said to the club’s website. “I think with the players still away on World Cup duty, that gives us that extra opportunity so we’re all desperate to take it and when the World Cup boys come back we’ll be wanting to stay in this team.”

“I think every time you get the chance to play for Liverpool’s first team you’ve got to give it your all and show the manager what you can do with the ball and without the ball,” Wilson added. “Because we all know that’s the philosophy we want to play with. When we lose the ball we want to win it back as quickly as possible and that’s what we try to do.”

At twenty-one years of age, Wilson is at the point where he’ll want minutes at as high a level as he can manage. Fortunately for him, Klopp seems quite bullish on the youngster, and the winger has quite a few fans among the first team players as well. With a number of Liverpool players advancing to the semifinals of the World Cup, Wilson might get a few more chances to shine - next up is a visit to Tranmere Rovers.