Liverpool's new head coach Arne Slot has included promising teenage footballer Trey Nyoni in the squad that is set to embark on a pre-season tour of the United States of America next week.
According to the club's media department, Nyoni, who was born to Zimbabwean parents, is part of the 28-member squad that also includes stars such as Mohamed Salah, Harvey Elliot, and Fabio Carvalho.
The side however, is missing several of their players who have been given an extended break after participating at the European Championships and Copa America.
The Reds will head across the Atlantic next Tuesday for a spell that will include friendly matches against Real Betis, Arsenal, and Manchester United.
Slot is now two weeks into his first pre-season with the club and he believes the combination of competing against high-class opposition and completing more training sessions will only benefit his squad's preparations for the new campaign.
"I assume this, but the resistance of the teams we play is strong," the Dutchman told Liverpoolfc.com.
"We are trying to implement the ideas and keep doing what we have done so well. Keeping the boys fit, that's the first aim.
"Those things are the first aim and then with all the players coming back I think the quality will go up a lot as well and these two things -- training sessions and boys coming back in -- will help us to play even better than we did (in the 0-1 defeat to Preston North End last Friday)."
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Slot also detailed the progress made by his players during the first fortnight of pre-season.
"It's only two weeks in so if it was that easy to bring and to implement all your ideas in two weeks, that would have been an ideal situation but it doesn't work like this!" he said.
"As I said, the ones who came in from the start, they are still fit now, they have had two weeks of training sessions and stayed fit during the game so are getting fitter and fitter.
"But yeah, there are more than a few areas where we have to improve but that will come with more sessions and it will come when all the boys are in."
Midfielder Nyoni, who recently turned 17, has been getting training gigs with the Liverpool senior team for some months now.
He made his first team debut at the end of February, becoming the youngest-ever Liverpool player in the FA Cup at 16 years and 243 days.
He has risen fast from the Under-18s and Under-21s since joining the club last year. As noted by the Liverpool Echo, his development coach Barry Lewtas couldn't hide his excitement about Nyoni's future at the club.
Lewtas expressed hope that Nyoni would remain at Liverpool for many years, emphasising his smooth transition and integration into the team.
Already an England Under-18 international with four caps, his experiences at international and club youth levels are laying a solid foundation for his career. Nyoni is also eligible to play for Zimbabwe in the future.
"Trey is fabulous. It's a nice part of the job for me. He has managed to do a lot -- he settled quickly, he integrated with the group, the staff, and his level of performance was good," said Lewtas.
