Liverpool Have Another Wonderkid in Lewis Koumas

Highlights

• Liverpool have fielded a number of academy prospects in 2024 as injuries hit them hard.
• Jurgen Klopp put his faith in the starlets in their Carabao Cup triumph over Chelsea, and did the same in the FA Cup.
• Now, GIVEMESPORT is taking a look at teenage striker Lewis Koumas after his goal in the FA Cup fifth round win over Southampton.

Jarell Quansah, James McConnell, Conor Bradley, Owen Beck, Callum Scanlon and Trey Nyoni are just some of the young players to have come through the Liverpool academy and worn the colour of the Reds for the first time in the 2023-24 season. Lewis Koumas is now also one of them.

The son of former Wales international Jason Koumas, the Chester native began his career where his father ended his, in the colours of Tranmere Rovers FC – where Jason played almost 200 games. Born in September 2005, Koumas played for Rovers’ youth teams for three years between 2013 and 2016, before moving to Merseyside. At Kirby, the young forward impressed and quickly rose through the ranks.

Lewis Koumas’ time at Liverpool so far

The striker made his first-team debut in the FA Cup against Southampton

In the 2021/22 season, he even made his debut for the U18s, playing in six league matches and scoring his first goal against Newcastle on the 26th and final day. The following season, when he was set to become a regular in the team coached by Marc Bridge-Wilkinson, Koumas got off to a strong start. In the league opener against Middlesbrough, he found the net four times to seal a resounding 6-2 victory.

All this in a centre-forward position that was not really natural to him until now, but to which he has had to adapt to deal with the many injuries affecting the squad. “We tried something in pre-season to play Louie as a striker”, Bridge-Wilkinson later explained to the Liverpool Echo. “We spoke to Louie, got him on board and he was happy to try and play in that position. We talked about the strengths in his game and why we thought he might fit, and you have to give him an awful lot of credit because the first time he played centre-forward was the week before the season started.”

A performance that the 44-year-old coach still remembers. “It was a fantastic performance, because to score four goals at this level is something that doesn’t happen too often. But there are still big strides we can make. We can still help him improve further.”

Koumas totalled 17 goal contributions contributions (12 goals and five assists) in just 13 appearances for the U18s, taking part in the UEFA Youth League and even making his first appearance for the Reds’ reserves. It was a more than encouraging 2022/23 campaign that clearly had little trouble convincing Jurgen Klopp to take Koumas to the first team’s pre-season training camp in Germany in July 2023.

And although the then 17-year-old started the 2023/24 season with the U18s, it didn’t take him long to return to the reserves. He has already scored seven goals and provided two assists in seven games played in the PL2, and has bagged a further four in three appearances in the FA Youth League. He has also played three games in the EFL Trophy. Klopp clearly took notice of his first half of the season, and gave him a place on the bench against Union Saint-Gilloise (in the Europa League on the 14th of December), Burnley (in the Premier League on the 10th of February) and Chelsea (in the EFL Cup final on the 25th of February).

Just over three days after the Reds’ cup triumph, Koumas made his professional debut for the club. Starting against Southampton in the 5th round of the FA Cup, the young striker could not have asked for a better debut, especially in front of his home fans at Anfield. Just before half-time, after being found on the edge of the area, Koumas cut inside and fired a shot that caught Joe Lumley off guard.

His strike made him the fourth-youngest Liverpool player to score on his debut and the ninth-youngest goalscorer in the club’s history. Klopp was obviously delighted with the performance after the match.

“A wonderful goal. A boy playing on the left wing against a senior player in a team with not a lot of patterns, let me say it like that, is tricky. Staying in the game for these moments just shows he is a real striker because the goal is exceptional, the step in and then he shoots before the goalie can settle. A really good finish.”

Ecstatic, the young Wales U19 international – who can also represent England – could not contain his joy on his X account (formerly Twitter), describing what he had just experienced as “a dream come true” and “a night I’ll never forget”.

Lewis Koumas’ style of play

A versatile forward with a clinical goal-scoring touch

As you might have guessed from his profile, Koumas is a versatile striker. More accustomed to playing on the wing (he has played on the left side on nine occasions this season), he can very easily become an attacking centre-forward if that is the task given to him by his coach.

Skilled on his feet and quick, Koumas is also a lethal player when it comes to finishing, as evidenced by the 13 goals he scored in 16 games in all competitions in 2023/24.

What next for Lewis Koumas at Liverpool?

Jurgen Klopp’s future could decide Koumas’ short-term future

The next step for the talented 18-year-old is to continue his string of good performances with the reserve team, while taking advantage of the opportunities he will undoubtedly have between now and the end of the season.

Once the season is over, it remains to be seen what decision the management will make regarding his future, with a new coach already expected to replace Klopp. Whatever the case, Koumas will be hoping that he will get the chance to shine for the team that he has been playing for since a very young age.