Dara Jikiemi Joins Liverpool Academy: A Future Star in the Making

Liverpool have landed another of Britain’s most coveted teenagers, with Scotland Under-16 captain Dara Jikiemi turning his back on Celtic to join the Anfield academy in a move the club believes could pay off for a decade.

The 16-year-old, widely viewed inside the game as a potential generational talent, has agreed terms with Liverpool and will arrive on Merseyside this summer on a scholarship deal. His first professional contract is already pencilled in for January, when he turns 17.

Liverpool have not stopped there. An agreement is understood to be in place for Jikiemi to sign a long-term professional deal as soon as he turns 18 in January 2028, a bold statement of faith in a player who has yet to kick a ball for the club.

This is not routine academy business. It is a plan.

Liverpool’s long game

Behind the scenes, Liverpool’s academy staff are convinced they have pulled off a masterstroke. At a time when top-level clubs routinely spend tens of millions on emerging talent, they believe Jikiemi’s arrival could save them serious money in future transfer windows.

Coaches at Kirkby see a player with the tools to grow into a first-team footballer: leadership, presence, and the technical quality to dictate games at youth level. The pathway has been mapped out early, with the club determined to give him clarity over his development and remove any doubt about where he fits in the long-term picture.

Jikiemi had the option to stay at Celtic, where he was already seen as one of the outstanding prospects in their academy. Walking away from that comfort and status is not a small call for a teenager. He has chosen the harder road, convinced that Liverpool’s structure, competition and coaching offer the best platform for his career.

Inside the Scottish system, the defender is spoken about in rare terms. As captain of his country’s Under-16s, he has already shown the mentality to handle responsibility, and his combination of technical ability and authority has pushed him into the top bracket of UK-based prospects.

Another talent crosses the Celtic–Liverpool divide

His switch continues a now familiar pattern. Jikiemi will follow the route taken by Ben Doak, who also traded Celtic for Liverpool as a teenager and has since broken into the first-team frame at Anfield.

That precedent matters. Young players and their families study these moves closely. Doak’s trajectory has underlined that Liverpool are prepared to fast-track those who prove they can handle the step up, and Jikiemi arrives knowing there is a real pathway if he delivers.

Liverpool have been aggressive in the youth market across Britain and Ireland, building what they hope will be an elite core beneath the senior squad. Club sources see Jikiemi as one of the standout captures of this current recruitment cycle, not just another addition to fill out age-group squads.

The expectation is clear: he will be developed carefully inside the academy, but with the explicit aim of one day challenging for senior minutes. The club’s decision to lock in both his scholarship and a future long-term professional commitment underlines the depth of that belief.

Part of a wider youth drive

Jikiemi’s arrival is not an isolated move. It fits into a broader strategy at Anfield, where the hierarchy are determined to assemble an outstanding pool of young talent while the first team is reshaped for another tilt at major honours under Andoni Iraola.

Liverpool’s recruitment team are also tracking Mexico starlet Gilberto Mora, one of the breakout youngsters of the recent World Cup, with their interest described as both developing and serious. Manchester United have long admired the player, but are now expected to step back from what could become a complex multi-club chase.

Ayyoud Bouaddi, the highly rated Morocco international at Lille, is another name on Liverpool’s radar, though any move there would require negotiating an eye-watering fee as the French club dig in over one of their prize assets.

The message from Anfield is unmistakable. While the senior side is being tooled up to compete at the very top again, the club is investing just as heavily in the next wave. In that context, Dara Jikiemi is more than a smart academy signing; he is a central piece of Liverpool’s attempt to build their future, not buy it later.