Mohamed Salah is not the only player at Liverpool to hit 20 goals so far this season as he shares the accomplishment with under-18s star Oakley Cannonier.
The name might ring a bell with some Reds fans, and understandably so. Cannonier is, in fact, the ballboy who shot to fame for his role in Liverpool ’s historic 4-0 victory over Barcelona in the Champions League in 2019. With Liverpool drawing 3-3 with the Catalan giants on aggregate, Cannonier returned the ball to Trent Alexander-Arnold almost immediately after Liverpool were awarded a corner in the 79th minute.
The England right-back was, therefore, given the chance to catch the Barca defence off-guard and deliver a quick corner which Divock Origi converted from. The victory meant that Liverpool booked themselves a spot in the final, which they won. Cannonier was praised by many at the club, thanking him for his quick thinking.
However, Cannonier should not only be recognised for this as it turns out he is actually one of the brightest prospects at the Kirby academy right now. The 17-year-old scored his 20th goal of the season against Manchester United in the Under-18s Premier League on Saturday.
There was only a matter of hours between Cannonier and Salah both bagging their 20ths, with the latter rifling home a penalty against Brighton and Hove Albion after Yves Bissouma blocked a shot with his hand inside the box. Salah will need 12 goals in 12 games to match his best league goal-scoring tally (32) from the 2017/18 campaign.
Cannonier is quickly gaining a reputation for being an exciting young talent at Liverpool, and he hopes that his ability on the pitch will mean he is remembered for that rather than his work in the Champions League. He told LFCTV earlier this season: “I want to become known for being a legend for different reasons, not for being a ball boy. I want to be like Trent in terms of what he’s done so far.”
The Athletic revealed that Cannonier was thanked for his work against Barcelona by being offered the chance to train with the first team on occasions, which he accepted. Speaking about the offer, Jurgen Klopp said: “I just need to thank you for what you did!”
Though Cannonier impressed to such an extent that his returns to first-team training were based on his ability rather than his previous ball-boying expertise. The former Borussia Dortmund boss is monitoring his progress.
The mood at Liverpool is certainly a positive one after Manchester City dropped points at Crystal Palace meaning that the Reds can close the gap with the league leaders to just a point with a victory over Arsenal this week. However, there were fears that Salah may be unavailable after he substituted against Brighton.
Asked on Tuesday about whether the Egyptian would be available, Klopp said: “It looks like. Mo is a tough cookie. We were quite lucky with it. It was swollen and painful, and yesterday a little bit less swollen and less painful.
"Now I got the message before the press conference that Mo is ready to train and we will see how that looks."
A win over the Gunners will set up a thrilling final nine games to the season, with Chelsea now seemingly out of the race. The two sides will meet on the 10th of April in what is likely to be a title-deciding six-pointer.
