18-year-old Liverpool forward Lewis Koumas made his debut and scored the opener in the Reds’ 3-0 win over Southampton in the FA Cup fifth round.
Amid the glory of winning the Carabao Cup against Chelsea on Sunday afternoon, Liverpool‘s injury worries were worsened as Ryan Gravenberch was forced off on a stretcher after just 28 minutes.
The Dutchman joined Alisson, Joel Matip, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Dominik Szoboszlai, Diogo Jota, Curtis Jones, Darwin Nunez, Mohamed Salah, Stefan Bajcetic, Ben Doak and Thiago Alcantara on the sidelines, who all missed out on the Wembley clash through injury.
This has opened the door for several academy youngsters to make their first team bow, most notably Conor Bradley, but also Bobby Clark, James McConnell, Jayden Danns and Trey Nyoni.
A name that has now been added to that list is 18-year-old Welsh forward Lewis Koumas, who made his debut in the 3-0 FA Cup fifth round win over Southampton, in which he netted the opener at Anfield.
A first start and a first goal for Lewis Koumas 👏
What a moment for the 18-year-old!#EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/PSueI6vJkj
— ITV Football (@itvfootball) February 28, 2024
Who Is Lewis Koumas?
Born in Chester in 2005, Lewis Koumas joined the Liverpool academy from Tranmere Rovers as an 11-year-old in November 2016, and penned his first professional contract with the club in January 2023.
The 18-year-old mainly operates as a striker for the Reds’ Under-18 and Under-21 sides, but can also play on both wings, as well as in midfield.
Koumas is currently the U21 side’s highest scorer in the Premier League 2 this term, having registered seven goals and two assists across seven appearances in the competition. Additionally, he has one goal and one assist in the U18 Premier League, as well as four goals in the FA Youth Cup.
The youngster has also featured in the EFL Trophy for the U21s three times this season, in which he received a straight red card in the last-32 as the Reds crashed out of the competition after a 4-0 defeat by Bradford.
After impressing with the first team in pre-season, he made his first appearance in the senior squad against Royale Union Saint-Gilloise in the Europa League at the end of 2023, where he remained an unused substitute.
After unlucky string of injuries within Liverpool’s squad, Koumas was named in the starting line-up and made his debut against Southampton in the FA Cup fifth round on 28 February, 2024.
Starting on the left-wing, the youngster looked sharp on his maiden appearance. It didn’t take long for him to announce himself to the Anfield faithful either, as he netted the opener via a deflected effort on the stroke of half-time as the Reds went on to win 3-0.
Despite being born in England, Koumas represents Wales internationally – following in the footsteps of his father Jason Koumas, who has 34 caps for the Red Dragons. His father also spent time in the Liverpool academy, before enjoying stints in the Premier League and the EFL with Tranmere, West Brom, Cardiff and Wigan.
In June 2023, it was reported that the youngster was caught in an ‘international tug-of-war’ as England attempted to pry him away from Welsh hands. The idea of this was quickly put to bed though, as he was called up to Wales’ Under-19 side a few weeks later, and scored in a friendly against Sweden.
Lewis Koumas started and netted his first goal for Wales U19 in a friendly vs Sweden earlier today.
The Liverpool forward was on hand to finish the rebound of a missed penalty to equalis for Wales 🔴. pic.twitter.com/9ociKFObf2
— Lewis Bower (@LewisBower2021) June 18, 2023
Liverpool Boss Jurgen Klopp On Koumas Following Debut Goal
Speaking to the press after the Reds secured advancement to the FA Cup quarter-finals, Klopp gave a glowing review of the Wales U19 international following his debut goal.
“A wonderful goal. A boy playing on the left wing against a senior player in a team with not a lot of patterns, let me say it like that, is tricky.
“Staying in the game for these moments just shows he is a real striker because the goal is exceptional, the step in and then he shoots before the goalie can settle. A really good finish.”
The German boss went on to praise his youngsters as a whole, Koumas included, who have done him proud amid a disastrous spell of injury setbacks.
“I cannot imagine how this week must feel for the boys. It feels pretty good for me but I know about all the problems we have as well,
“They don’t have to care about that, so they can just fly and they deserve that. It’s the week of the academy and it’s exceptional. I never had that before: that you play with that many kids and still can win football games.”
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