The surprise success of Liverpool’s pre-season had never played for the first team – Liverpool FC

As Liverpool’s first pre-season under Arne Slot draws to a close, there are a number of surprises to reflect on – not least the progress of Luca Stephenson.

Just four months ago, Stephenson was in the midst of a late push for the playoff spots on loan with AFC Barrow in League Two.

In his first season of professional football, the 20-year-old became a regular for the Cumbrian outfit.

Though injury and a failure to finish in the top six ultimately brought his campaign to an early end after 34 appearances, Stephenson’s time at Barrow could be considered a real success.

Not, perhaps, enough of a success to lead to any speculation over a role in the new era of Liverpool’s first team under head coach Slot.

But the versatile youngster, who joined the club from Sunderland back in 2018, is one of only 14 players to feature in four of the Reds’ five pre-season friendlies – two of which featured entirely different squads on the same day.

Stephenson clocked more minutes on the pitch (106) than the likes of Stefan Bajcetic (86), Owen Beck (45) and Kaide Gordon (27), with Slot growing to trust a player who clearly caught the eye in training.

He did so at right-back, rather than his natural midfield role, having already proved himself a valuable utility player in his six years in the academy.

Though most comfortable in midfield, Stephenson has performed in a number of different roles for Liverpool’s U21s and U18s, including a stint at centre-back.

“That’s why he is the leader he is. Luca leads by example,” U21s coach Barry Lewtas told the club’s official website last year.

“Playing Luca at centre-half was something we needed as a team and he is always willing to step in and, to be fair, he does a fantastic job wherever he plays.

“Luca is a midfielder, I see him as a midfielder and he knows that, but sometimes Luca is helping us out.”

That selfless attitude is required to make the step up into a squad as competitive as Liverpool’s – particularly as Stephenson could be considered to have lacked the head-start others enjoyed before Slot’s appointment.

Having rarely trained with the senior squad during Jurgen Klopp‘s reign, there is now a strong case to argue that he could stay as part of the wider first-team ranks under Slot this season.

Part of this comes due to circumstance: while others cut from the initial pre-season squad, like Dominic Corness, James Norris and Tom Hill, would have taken up an over-age spot in the Premier League, Stephenson poses no such problem.

If he stays at Liverpool this season, he will instead be eligible as an U21 player in both the Premier League and Champions League, therefore not taking up valuable space.

But the overriding factor will be the quality and tenacity he has shown both in training and in friendlies against Real Betis, Arsenal, Man United and Sevilla.

Up against significantly more established wingers, Stephenson never bowed out of a challenge, showing the aggression and thrust to win the ball and drive up the right flank, typically to dovetail with Mohamed Salah.

It is quite the step up from clashes with Walsall, Harrogate and Crawley in League Two, but one he has taken in his stride.

There is little danger at this stage of Stephenson supplanting Trent Alexander-Arnold and Conor Bradley in the right-back pecking order.

But with captain Virgil van Dijk delivering a timely reminder on Sunday that “we should make some signings based on how long the season will go,” he can certainly be a useful option in reserve.

It seems daft to question this as a role Stephenson would even accept, but of course there will be conversations to be had over his ambitions of first-team football.

For a player who only turns 21 in September, though, it is far from a sideways or even backwards step to take in an extended spell in Slot’s squad at Liverpool.

Only time will tell whether Stephenson is scheduled to stay as part of the senior setup at Anfield or if another loan move is being lined up.

But at this reflective stage of pre-season, it is impossible to ignore him as the surprise success story of the summer.