The 23-year-old boyhood Red arrived in Kirkby as an U11 player and progressed to captain the U23s.
In January 2019, Virtue completed a permanent move to Blackpool, where he is now under the tutelage of two familiar faces from the Academy - manager Neil Critchley and coach Mike Garrity.
We recently caught up with Virtue - read on for our in-depth interview on his period at LFC and how he is progressing at his new club...
On how much he is enjoying life at Blackpool…
It’s going well. As some Liverpool fans will know, Neil Critchley is the manager, so football is a small world and I’m definitely enjoying my time there. It’s been a bit of an up and down season because I had an injury but I got back to playing games and enjoying my football. It’s what every player wants: to play games, get better, improve, and that’s what I’m hoping to do.
On teaming up with Critchley again…
That was just crazy. I had a few days off and he text me saying, 'Enjoy a few days off because I’ll be seeing you on Wednesday!' I saw him in the running for it but I thought he enjoyed being a youth coach. But seeing him getting the Blackpool job was just amazing for me.
On how big an influence Critchley is on him…
Massive. I know I can go out on the pitch and play my own game. I also know he is putting me on the pitch to play my own game because he knows my strengths and he knows what I’m good at.
On leaving Liverpool and the chance to move to Blackpool…
Critch was our U23s manager and the Blackpool manager at the time had worked with him at Crewe previously, and he had seen me play and liked me. There were a few clubs asking about me but I wanted to go somewhere where the manager knew me and believed in me and trusted me, and Blackpool was the right fit.
On the big difference between youth and senior football…
I think it’s the physical side of the game. The game is a lot different. You’ve got to know how to use your body, you’ve got to be able to read and pick up second balls. It is different, the football league: it is direct football and you’ve got to be able to use your body to win second balls and affect games that way. When I went for my first loan at Notts County I was mistaken thinking I could go there and play how I did with the U23s. It didn’t work like that. You’ve got to adapt your game and get used to how the game is.
On looking back at his time with the Reds…
In all honesty, it was tough, to be honest. It was very touch and go as to whether I was going to be signed on as a scholar. I actually got offered my scholarship by Liverpool when I was on trial at Wigan Athletic. I guess that’s not probably widely known but I was quite small when I was 16, but I had a few coaches who believed in me. Michael Beale, who is at Rangers now, was actually my coach at Chelsea and then he coached me at Liverpool and he had a big influence on me. I must say Alex Inglethorpe really fought my corner for me and was the person who pushed the scholarship over the line. Alex really believed that I could go on and have a career in the game. It was tough to make the grade but enjoyable at the same time. I still keep in touch with Alex and Michael. They always message me when I score a goal with a 'well done' message to say they have seen it. That’s always nice to know they are watching how I am getting on.
On the benefits of captaining the U23s…
That helped me massively. It helped my confidence massively and it showed me they felt I was one of the stronger players in the group, and a player who the lads could sort of look up and lead because I was getting that more experience. During that period I developed massively. I probably changed my game a little bit and went from playing a holding role to being more a box-to-box player and that helped massively and the armband did help me. I developed as a player at Liverpool and I gave it my best shot, gave it everything that I’ve got in every game and every training session, which is probably all that I could have asked for.
I got the chance to train with the first team and some of the best players in the world, which is unbelievable really. People always ask me about who were the best players I got to train with and I always say Roberto Firmino and Gini Wijnaldum. Firmino has got eyes in the back of his head, his first touch is unbelievable and I think Wijnaldum is one of the most underrated players in the Premier League. He is so good at what he does. On the ball he never gives it away, his first touch is always right for where he wants to take the ball. I’m a Liverpool fan and I will always look out for the results and watch the games when I can. When I was at the Academy I got tickets for every home game and tried to go as much as I could. I loved every minute of it.