Liverpool Secure Joshua Abe Amid £50,000-a-Week Interest

Liverpool’s academy has produced its share of fairytales, but even by Kirkby standards this is a remarkable story: a 15-year-old winger, with a single appearance above under-18 level, turning down a Premier League offer worth up to £50,000 per week to stay put.

In early June, Liverpool moved decisively. Joshua Abe was tied down on scholarship terms, with a pre-contract agreement already in place for a three-year professional deal that will kick in on his 17th birthday next year, as reported by The Athletic. For a player who doesn’t turn 16 until Friday, it is a serious statement of intent from both club and teenager.

A tug-of-war for a schoolboy

Abe has been on the radar of several top-flight clubs, his reputation growing quickly in academy circles. The Athletic’s Andy Jones detailed how a “host of Premier League clubs” tried to tempt him away, one going as far as putting a professional package of up to £50,000 per week on the table.

That is not pocket money. That is first-team money.

Liverpool know exactly what that figure represents. According to Capology, Wataru Endo – a 33-year-old, vastly experienced midfielder and long-time Japan captain – earns the same weekly wage at Anfield. To offer that to a player barely out of school underscores how aggressively rivals were prepared to move.

The pressure came early. Liverpool didn’t blink.

A place on the plane

The reward for Abe’s loyalty will not be limited to a contract filed away in a drawer. He is set to join Andoni Iraola’s first-team squad on their tour of the United States, a rare opportunity for a player so young to train and travel with senior professionals.

With several established names on an extended post-World Cup break, the door has cracked open. Pre-season always throws up one or two surprise stories; Abe is being positioned as a leading candidate to seize that space.

Jones also revealed that the winger has already been handed a first-team squad number for the 2026/27 campaign. Clubs do not give those out lightly. Inside the building, that’s a clear signal: this is someone they expect to see again, not just a summer extra making up the numbers.

A glimpse above his age group

For all the noise around him, Abe’s competitive experience beyond youth level is minimal. He has only once played above under-18 football, stepping off the bench for Rob Page’s under-19 side in the UEFA Youth League against Zilina in February.

One cameo, and yet a contract battle involving major Premier League clubs and eye-watering numbers. That contrast tells its own story about how he is viewed by scouts and talent spotters.

Liverpool, though, have taken a different route to persuasion. Rather than matching the money, they have offered a pathway.

The long game at Kirkby

The plan for Abe now looks clear. He is expected to taste first-team football in pre-season, feel the pace, the physicality, the scrutiny. Then the club will likely drop him back into the academy environment, where he can continue to grow without the spotlight burning too hot, too soon.

A step into the under-21 side over the coming months appears the natural next stage, a bridge between youth football and the demands of the senior game. At his age, everything must be calibrated carefully: training loads, expectations, even the noise around his name.

Liverpool have seen enough prodigies up close to understand the dangers of hype. The temptation is to talk in grand terms when a teenager turns down £50,000 per week. Inside the club, the tone will be different: quiet, detailed, patient.

A huge coup – with a warning attached

Strip away the numbers and the context is still striking. Keeping Abe, in the face of that kind of external pressure, is a major win for Liverpool’s academy and recruitment operation. It suggests a trust in the project at Kirkby that money alone could not break.

It also serves as a warning. If he develops as those around him believe he can, the big clubs who circled this summer will be back. Next time, they might not just be pitching a wage packet; they could be offering guaranteed first-team football.

For now, though, Liverpool have what they wanted: a gifted young winger tied to a long-term plan, a squad number already earmarked, and a seat booked on the plane to America.

The rest is up to Joshua Abe – and how far he can push the ceiling everyone else seems so desperate to place above his head.