Former Newcastle United prospect Bobby Clark's flying start at Liverpool has continued with a senior debut in a record win at Anfield. Less than a year after leaving the Magpies, the 17-year-old has signed his first professional deal on Merseyside and made his first-team breakthrough for the Reds.
Jurgen Klopp's side endured a troubled start to the Premier League campaign, with the FA Cup and Carabao Cup holders failing to win their opening three fixtures. Liverpool already have a number of senior stars sidelined with injury, which has opened the door for several youngsters to impress.
Clark is one of these to have become a fixture in first-team training in recent weeks, and was named in the matchday squads for the recent draw to Crystal Palace and defeat at Manchester United. The son of former Magpies midfielder and Chronicle columnist Lee Clark has now made his first top-flight appearance as a late substitute in the nine-goal thrashing of Bournemouth on Saturday.
READ MORE: Bobby Clark may be the one that got away for Newcastle after flying Liverpool start
Scott Parker's newly-promoted side were put to the sword at Anfield, and found themselves five goals down at the break. Liverpool refused to let up however, and a late strike from Luis Diaz sealed a record win for the hosts.
Klopp held face-to-face talks with Clark to convince him to leave Newcastle last year, and has hailed his and fellow youth team-mate Stefan Bajcetic for their 'unbelievable' performances in training. It is this 'great faith' which has resulted in the midfielder enjoying an 'amazing experience' already this campaign, according to his father Lee.
He told ChronicleLive: "It's a phenomenal achievement at 17, coming up to his first anniversary at the club. They've got a huge injury crisis at Liverpool at the moment so he's benefitted from that, but he's also benefitted from working with a manager who isn't prepared to dive into the transfer market and buy players for the sake of it to fill positions.
"He's going to be patient to wait for his senior players to come back, and he's got great faith in his young players. He's given Bobby and another young player Stefan the chance to train with the first team every day for the last month, and they've been involved in squads.
"It's an amazing experience, learning at the moment how tough it is to play in the Premier League. He's learning from class players and a world-class manager. It couldn't have been a better first year for him at the club to be honest."
Clark replaced Trent Alexander-Arnold in the 83rd minute of the 9-0 win, with Diaz going on to score the final goal two minutes later. The ex-Newcastle talent will no doubt be hoping for another appearance and a chat to reacquaint himself with former team-mates when the Magpies visit Anfield on Wednesday night.
Discussing his son's progress, Lee Clark added: "I speak to him every day about it, I talk to him about how training is going. He talks about the players he's playing alongside, the difference in the speed of the game, the quality you're playing with. It's fantastic for his development, and one of the reasons I think he chose to go to Liverpool because of the manager giving young boys a chance.
"Even though he's at a massive club who are expected to win, he's not afraid of giving the young ones a chance. He's not prepared to go out and spend willy-nilly if he thinks he's got good young players and it will stop their pathway. This time last year, Bobby himself was looking at trying to establish himself in the under-21s, he probably never thought he'd be going on tour with the first team and being on a Premier League bench."
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