Liverpool sign PL cult hero's wonderkid son on his first professional contract

Liverpool have tied down a potential superstar striker on his first professional contract.

The youngster in question is the son of a former Premier League cult hero.

If that wasn't enough, he scored 90 goals in a single campaign when playing for the Reds' Under-14s.

He is also a USA youth international and scored seven goals to help them reach the CONCACAF U17 Championship final last year, where they lost to Mexico. He also played in the U17s World Cup, reaching the last 16.

The wonderkid in question is Keyrol Figueroa, 17, son of Maynor Figueroa, who made 214 Premier League appearances for Wigan Athletic and Hull City between 2008 and 2015.

Born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras' capital, Figueroa Jr looks set to follow his father's footsteps into the Premier League.

Liverpool were first reported to be working on a professional deal for the starlet back in February.

Figueroa joined Liverpool's academy as an Under-14 player and made his debut for the Under-18 team in the 2021-22 season, while still playing for the Under-16 side.

He has bagged three goals in eight U18s Premier League outings this campaign and the next step in his development will be to reach the U21s.

His father, Maynor, only scored 22 times in a club career that saw him take in 585 games,

He also had a rather mythical international career for Honduras, collecting between 148 and 181 caps depending on your source, but FIFA's official count is at 181.

That puts him one cap ahead of Lionel Messi's total for Argentina and makes him the seventh most-capped player of all time.

If his son can emulate anything like the career he had, he'll have done well, though the sky is the limit with a 90-goal season on his CV and his first pro deal at Liverpool.

Liverpool have a strong tradition of bringing through youngtsers and Jarell Quansah and Conor Bradley have made a particular impression this campaign, becoming frist-team regulars.