On a day where Jurgen Klopp handed Liverpool’s latest highly-rated young talent a Premier League debut, one former starlet belatedly made their maiden Anfield appearance nearly a decade on from their own first top-flight appearance for the club.
Having joined Liverpool as a 16-year-old back in 2013, Sergi Canos would have dreamed of such an occasion from the first moment he moved to Merseyside, though, in all likelihood, not in the circumstances it eventually came.
Having had to wait nine long years to make his Anfield debut, that day finally came on Sunday as the midfielder, now at Brentford, came on as a 49th minute substitute against his former club.
Lured away from Barcelona’s La Masia academy during Brendan Rodgers’ tenure in 2013, the Spaniard was handed his debut by Jurgen Klopp away at West Bromwich Albion in May 2016, coming on as an 81st minute substitute on the final day of the campaign following his return from successful year on loan at Brentford, as the German rotated his side ahead of the Europa League final.
At the time the wide-man described his debut as “the best 10 minutes of my life".
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“I came back in November to train with Klopp for three days and it was amazing," he told the ECHO at the time.
“I’ve had hunger from the first day I came to Liverpool three years ago. I hope I’ll be able to train with the senior squad more in future and show the manager that I can play for Liverpool."
Yet within two months, Canos had left the club permanently as his Anfield dream swiftly died.
Haven entered the final year of his contract, he snubbed new terms, with negotiations quickly breaking down as a result of his £10,000-per-week wage demands.
Training at the Academy rather than Melwood for pre-season as a result, interest from the Championship saw the then 19-year-old decide to depart for pastures new as he joined Norwich City in a £2.5m deal.
The Reds could have banked a potential £4.5m if the Spaniard’s move to Carrow Road had worked out, with £2m to follow in add-ons related to the number of appearances plus buy-back and sell-on clauses.
Yet he was on the move again just half-a-season later, re-joining Brentford in a £2.5m deal in January 2017, becoming the Bees record signing in the process, having made just six appearances for the Canaries and only three in the Championship, ensuring Liverpool would receive little more for his efforts.
In the five years that have followed, the Reds have been given little reason to rue Canos’ departure as he made a slow return to the Premier League.
Understandably taking time to rediscover the form from his loan spell with the Bees after disappointing in East Anglia, Thomas Frank’s appointment as head coach in 2018 was the turning point for the Spaniard as he scored nine goals from 50 appearances in 2018/19, with only a serious knee injury curtailing his progress the following year as Brentford lost in the play-off final.
He would later claim in February 2021 the injury was "the best moment of my career" and made him improve his mentality, "understand why top players are playing in top leagues” and “understand how much it takes".
The fact he found himself in the Premier League months after making such a claim perhaps backs up the fact.
With football’s suspension due to the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020, he did return in time for the end of the season and came off the bench at Wembley as Brentford lost to Fulham, before cementing his place back in Frank’s starting XI again in 2020/21.
He recorded a career-best 55 appearances, and nine goals, as the Bees this time won in the play-off final, against Swansea City, to win a famous promotion to the Premier League.
His form has continued in the top-flight, with him even scoring their first ever Premier League goal against Arsenal, and he had made 18 starts and one sub appearance, scoring twice and missing just one match, prior to Sunday’s return to Liverpool.
He will have endured some nervy moments in the week, however, prior to the clash with his former club, with a hamstring injury restricting him to just a substitute appearance after Frank had admitted just how keen he was to face the Reds.
Labelling the occasion a ‘special day’ on Twitter, although unfit to start, Canos did join the action shortly after the break as he belatedly got to make a maiden Anfield appearance and rub shoulders with the Liverpool first team once again.
Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Roberto Firmino, Joe Gomez and Divock Origi all remain from his own time with the club, while the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones and Kaide Gordon ensure the pathway to Reds youngsters is as open as ever.
Yet that wasn’t always the case, perhaps contributing to the Spaniard’s decision to leave the Reds back in 2016.
His debut against West Brom made him the 15th academy graduate to feature in Klopp’s maiden season at the club, with the German handing seven of them, including Canos, debuts, and naming 18 starlets altogether in matchday squads.
Sheyi Ojo is the last of those players still contracted at Anfield, and, now away on his latest loan, has known his future lay elsewhere for some time.
From those that departed sooner, none enjoyed significant careers under Klopp, with Kevin Stewart perhaps featuring most prominently, and none ever progressed past bit-part status.
Meanwhile, Ryan Kent at Rangers, Pedro Chirivella at Nantes, Joao Teixeira at Feyenoord and Danny Ward at Leicester City are the only ones, along with Canos, currently playing in a top-flight.
It has been a different story since Klopp got his feet under the Anfield table, however, with Alexander-Arnold one of the best players in the world in his position, and the likes of Jones, Harvey Elliott, Caoimhin Kelleher, Neco Williams, Nat Phillips and recently Tyler Morton establishing themselves in the first-team squad.
Gordon will now look to do the same, having been handed his own Premier League debut against Brentford as he came on as an 82nd minute substitute.
Having scored his first Liverpool goal the weekend before against Shrewsbury Town, he might not be labelling the outing as the best 10 minutes of his life as Canos once did, but he is certain to add those minutes at Anfield.
And while the likes of Williams and Phillips have been tipped to make permanent exits themselves, they have still shown enough at Anfield to retain top-flight careers themselves.
As for Canos, by returning to the Premier League five years after his maiden appearance in the division, those inside Anfield might not be too surprised to have seen the Spaniard progress back to the English top-flight - especially considering the Reds tried to keep him and Klopp handed the Spaniard his debut.
However, having left Merseyside as an attacking midfielder/winger, he now predominantly resides a wing-back, though can still operate in his original position.
With such a role unnecessary at Anfield and Liverpool’s attacking ranks well-stocked, the Reds will have no regrets about his departure, with Canos doing little in the 3-0 loss to make Klopp rue the midfielder slipping through his fingers.
The Spaniard himself will have no complaints about his decision to leave, given how his Brentford career has turned out, with it working out best for all parties concerned once he recovered from his Norwich misdirection.
In hindsight that is perhaps the only minor complaint Liverpool will have about 24-year-old’s exit, that he struggled at Norwich before returning to Brentford and making his name.
Had he made a direct return to the Bees, the Reds could have banked bonuses for further appearances and even his promotion, as well as been in line for another fee should he then have been sold on at a profit.
Instead, any hopes of additional windfalls were ended within months of his Anfield exit.
Yet Canos was ultimately coming through the Liverpool ranks at the wrong time, with those that have followed having enjoyed a clearer path to the first-team, and banking the Reds more of a profit even if they do move on.
Now with his emotional return to Anfield out of the way, his next aim will be to ensure he plays there again next season, with Brentford 14th in the table after their loss to Liverpool and 10 points above the relegation zone.
And while Canos might not be regarded as ‘one that got away’ when it comes to assessing former Reds starlets, his exploits with the Bees ensure he is currently one of the most successful.
