FeatureMeet the Academy: The record-breaking Trey Nyoni and his motivation for more
Trey Nyoni is a regular straddler of the loose divide between Liverpool's senior team and Academy sides.
The gifted midfielder has turned out for Arne Slot's Premier League champions, the U21s, U19s and U18s during the 2024-25 season alone.
There is a simple question to determine which outfit he feels he belongs to at this point in his promising career.
Which canteen do you use at the AXA Training Centre?
"Usually I'm in the U21s side because that's where I am most of the time," the 17-year-old tells Liverpoolfc.com. "I just cross over to the first team and go and train there.
"Obviously playing a few [senior] games doesn't mean you've made it or anything like that."
'A few' currently equates to six appearances for Nyoni, who debuted as a 16-year-old in an Emirates FA Cup tie with Southampton in February 2024.
He made history at the start of this year by becoming Liverpool's youngest player to appear in Europe.
The England youth international came off the bench in the Champions League tie at PSV Eindhoven at the age of 17 years and seven months, to break the record Phil Charnock held for nearly 33 years.
Hitting these kinds of milestones is the reason why he chose to join the Reds from Leicester City at the beginning of last season.
He explains: "I was thinking I just need to come somewhere where I can learn from the best and train with the best. I thought coming to Liverpool would be good.
"Coming here and seeing the first-team pathway and players before coming and breaking through, I thought it was good for me to come here and see if I can do the same."
This rise has naturally thrust a typically reserved teenager into the consciousness of a fan base that stretches all over the globe.
Thankfully, any shyness the Reading-born starlet carries falls by the wayside for 90 minutes when taking to a football pitch.
"It's new to me because being at my former club Leicester wasn't as big as coming here," Nyoni says. "I didn't really know what to expect. You see how the fans [are], they are just crazy.
"I just take it within my stride. Obviously if I see anyone, I'll always take my time to be nice to people and stuff like that. It's good as well because it's all part of the experience.
"That's what I enjoy doing, that's what I love doing – just playing football with a smile on my face."
Labelled an 'interesting player' by Slot in pre-season, Nyoni offers an abundance of quality and versatility in the middle of the park.
He reveals during this chat as part of our Meet the Academy series that he now attempts to style his game in the manner Thiago Alcantara did for Liverpool, and Barcelona and Bayern Munich before that.
Nyoni says: "Just his calmness on the ball, how elegant he is and he was also underrated off the ball as well – he used to work hard a lot as well. Just his elegance on the ball is just top.
"I was playing midfield before I came here, so I had already started playing in all different roles – like a six, eight and 10.
"I think it's good for me anyway because I feel like I get a lot of the ball. I'm happy to be on the pitch anywhere but I like playing as a six or eight.
"I feel that's where I'm most comfortable because I like when I can see the game and can play the ball through the lines."
Nyoni's adaptation to the senior set-up has been made easier by the welcoming environment he has found there.
In particular, he singles out the guidance received from Curtis Jones, Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk, the latter pushing him towards the Kop to soak in the moment of scoring in a pre-season game with Sevilla.
"All of them have been good but the first person that spoke to me was the captain," Nyoni recalls. "Curtis as well has helped me a lot since I've come up. He's always there, looking out for me. Ibou as well.
"Everyone has been good and always just trying to help. In training, it's good when you've got everyone training at a high standard because then you know what the level is."
There remains an ongoing adjustment period to that level Nyoni refers to. A Premier League bow is the next target in his sights.
He is hungry to keep adding to his appearance total – and whatever further records may follow – and determined for this to just be the beginning of a fruitful career with the club.
He finishes: "It's nice being a part of it but ultimately what you strive for is to play more and more.
"It's nice to have records but it's not how you start, it's how you finish – I always stick to that.
"Hopefully I can just continue to keep on doing what I'm doing and then everything else will just sort itself out."