LIVERPOOL’S academy has a strict set of rules in place for their young players.
The rules include a wage cap, a bizarre car clause and confiscating phones.
Academy director Alex Inglethorpe has lifted the lid on the restrictions he has implemented at the club.
Player wages are restricted to a £50,000-a-year cap under the regulations.
Meanwhile, his “car clause” limits the engine sizes of player vehicles to 1.3 litres.
Finally, players must hand their phones in at 8.30am when they arrive at the academy and are not given them back until they leave for the day.
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Explaining the rules, Inglethorpe told Jamie Carragher for the Telegraph: “It is a safety thing as much as anything.
“I don’t want boys who have just passed their test with these big chunks of metal, but I was also fed up seeing a car park full of Range Rovers.
“If anyone turns up with one of them, they are parking it next door.
“We have a pay structure which is fairly old-fashioned. We give them jobs to do. We tell them to hand their phone over at 8.30am and give them back before they go home.
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“You have been a senior player. You know how it is when a young player comes into the dressing room. You want respect for the pathway.
“They have to earn what comes their way first. All the other stuff is fine later. To get there you have to do it on the pitch.”
Trent Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones are two of the club’s biggest academy success stories in recent years.
Inglethorpe believes the duo are prime examples of the effects his rules have had.
He added: “Trent is a really good example. When you get to the senior squad, the best thing you can do is have senior players who become your advocates.
“There was no flash watch with Trent. I remember how he drove the same car for years. He’d wear the same tracksuit.
“As soon as he made the step up, Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana and James Milner invested time and effort to help him. It was the same for Curtis.
“Now that baton has been passed on with Trent the vice-captain ensuring the next along the line display the same characteristics.”
Alexander-Arnold and Jones have been joined by a host of fresh academy talent in the first-team this season.
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Both Jarell Quansah and Conor Bradley have regularly impressed for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Meanwhile, teenagers James McConnell, Bobby Clark, Ben Doak, Luke Chambers, Kaide Gordon, Stefan Bajcetic, Calum Scanlon and Jayden Danns have all played at least once.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
