Liverpool confirm ‘raw gem’ Scouser as first January signing

Robin Bairner

8 Jan 2026 09:54 GMT
6 min read

Noah Adekoye has signed for Liverpool — © Instagram

Liverpool have completed the signing of Noah Adekoya from Burnley, with the 19-year-old centre-back tipped as a “raw gem”.

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Adekoya made the announcement via his Instagram account on Wednesday, showing images of him holding a Liverpool strip with the caption: “God’s plan.”

The teenager is a Scouser and also has images of himself as a kid wearing Liverpool kit on his social accounts.

The Reds have been in the market for a new centre-back following an injury to Giovanni Leoni and due to the ongoing uncertainty over Ibrahima Konate’s future.

Noah Adekoya: What can Liverpool expect from their new signing?

While Adekoya is not someone who will instantly step in and improve Arne Slot’s squad, Anfield Watch’s Bence Bocsak is very excited by the arrival of the youngster and what he might bring to the club in the future.

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Speaking to FootballTransfers, Bocsak said: “Overall, he looks like a defender with a lot of potential. He could be a raw gem.

“He’s a very tall centre-back who is relatively quick and composed on the ball.

“In possession, he has excellent technical ability for a centre-back. He’s a good carrier of the ball and he’s comfortable passing with both feet. In the 28 games available on Wyscout, he attempted 27 dribbles for Burnley’s academy sides over the last two seasons and completed 24 of his attempts.

“He can play either on the left or right in a central defensive role. He’s slim but muscular, with a strong core, and he’s quick so he deals well with physical challenges.

“With Burnley at youth level, he won 74% of his 5.3 defensive duels per 90 and 78% of his 4.45 aerial duels per 90.”

Any weaknesses?

The Liverpool expert does have some reservations over how Adekoya’s form with Burnley’s youth team might translate to Anfield.

“I’d say my only question mark is about his distribution of the ball. Burnley tend to play quite a direct style of football and do not keep a lot of possession, so he goes long often. He’s effective at doing this and has a nice range, but the sample size of him playing neater or line-breaking passes on the ground is a lot smaller. It’ll be interesting to see how this develops at Liverpool,” he said.

Liverpool have had recent success with capturing youth products from Premier League rivals, with Rio Ngumoha having shone in the first team. A similar immediate impact is not expected of Adekoya, yet in the long term he has the potential to be a star.