22 February 2024 , 09:16
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Liverpool's 4-1 win over Luton Town probably isn't significant enough for a notable spot in the history books, but for Jayden Danns, it's a match he'll never forget.
Danns, 18, is the son of former EFL stalwart Neil Danns, who had spells with the likes of Bolton Wanderers, Crystal Palace and Leicester City. The midfielder clocked up 676 appearances during his career- and he was in attendance at Anfield to see Danns Junior tot up senior match number one.
Liverpool's significant injury list may have opened the door for Danns to make his Anfield bow, but the versatile young forward is highly thought of on Merseyside. And with the likes of Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez all currently sidelined, there's every chance we could see more of him in the coming weeks, albeit those appearances may take the form of cameos.
Like his father before him, Danns has been on the books at Liverpool since he was a schoolboy. Since signing on at eight-years-old, Danns has flourished and scored 10 goals for Liverpool's Under-18s as a first-year scholar during the 2022/23 campaign.
All that will pale in comparison to his experience on Wednesday night, though. With the points safe courtesy of a rousing second-half fightback and a famous Anfield atmosphere, Klopp turned to the teenager in the 89th minute and gave him the green light to put on the famous red shirt.
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He made a beeline for the youngster post-match, too, embracing him with a big smile. Rob Edwards then chimed in to tell Klopp that he actually played with Danns' father, an anecdote that the Liverpool chief seemed to very much enjoy.
Despite his brief game time, Danns caught the eye and made a key contribution to Liverpool's fourth goal, sliding the ball through to Cody Gakpo before a defensive intervention opened the door for Harvey Elliott to strike.
Join the debate! Where do you think Klopp will end up next? Let us know here.
Danns' made his senior bow late on in the win over Luton (Clive Brunskill)Fittingly, Danns was one of seven players who featured for Liverpool Wednesday night's match aged 21 or under. The future at Anfield is bright, even if the daunting prospect of moving forward without Klopp is now very much looming large.
He name-dropped Danns in his post-match press conference and outlined how grateful the youngster was to be given his big moment from the bench. He said post-match: "The [injury] situation is not great, absolutely not, we don’t have to make that now nicer than it is. I’m so happy that all the kids came on and played; Dannsy [Jayden Danns] said 50 times, ‘Thank you, boss!’.
"I’m so happy that I could give him that opportunity, the boys deserve it.
"But obviously for us there are now a lot of super-important games coming up, and we don’t know, we go day by day. I cannot say anything about it and I don’t know. But after Brentford I had no clue the situation would be like it was now.
"So, let’s see. There’s one phrase that stands: as long as we have 11, we will go for it. That’s all I can promise."
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