'What makes a Liverpool player?'
Academy director Frank McParland has revealed the lengths to which the scouting team at Liverpool go in an effort to secure potential talents for the club at an early age.
Ability can be spotted in players as young as five according to McParland, who fully explained the process of finding, nurturing and developing the stars of the future.
In a Daily Mail column, the 53-year-old said: "People often ask: 'What makes a Liverpool player?'
"Talent and ability is the obvious first point of attraction but we want a winning mentality, a strong character - someone who puts their personality on a game.
"Andre Wisdom has personality, Raheem Sterling has it - you know he is on the pitch.
"We heard about him when he was 14 and on the bench at QPR and even saw him on Soccer AM doing the Skills School, where he was brilliant.
"We watched him in the England U15s set-up, put the intelligence together and knew he was for us.
"We study players from the age of five. At that age you are looking for someone who stands out in terms of co-ordination, maybe he is very quick or very athletic.
"We invite mini clubs to come in so it also creates a feel-good factor with strong community spirit. The local clubs feel an affiliation with us.
"Some may just be good at every sport they try. Raheem, for example, is also great at table tennis and that can give you an indication.
"We'll keep inviting different groups in of five-, six-, seven- and eight-year-olds, inviting some back, and we go through thousands of players. Everton and Manchester United do the same.
"If you don't do it then when it comes to the time you can sign a player, at nine, you won't know who the best ones are and they could sign for other clubs."
Sterling, Suso and Wisdom have shown the way for the youngsters during 2012-13, earning regular first-team berths since the arrival of Brendan Rodgers last summer.
And McParland talked of the significant involvement the manager takes in his youth squads.
He continued: "The manager gives fantastic support to the young players - that's evident with who has figured in the first team this season.
"We've had six academy players involved this season, not including Raheem as he was involved last year.
"If I want a player, the manager and I go over it. He asks how he will fit in, watches a DVD of the player and then if we pursue it, he will spend an hour with the parents and with the boy.
"Generally, we're helping them grow up, train them for life. We don't just want good footballers, we want good, rounded men."
The Reds' U19s secured qualification for the knockout stages of the NextGen Series on Tuesday night, while a youth side were runners-up at the inaugural NexLions Cup in Singapore in December.
McParland was effusive in his belief that the tournaments can benefit the fledgling talents and their development.
"The NextGen Series has been fantastic for us. The lads experience what it is like to go to the next level," he added.
"You are travelling across Europe like the first team do - spending time at airports, on planes, in hotels, coping with the downtime, playing top European teams such as Sporting Lisbon.
"It's a brilliant learning curve. Even in the games you have different referees and formations to adjust to. For the likes of myself, it allowed us to scout one or two players too.
"The scale of this club was brought home to the players when we went to Singapore prior to Christmas. The support Liverpool has in the Far East is amazing.
"We took our U19s yet there were thousands at the airport to greet us. They even had banners with Adam Morgan's name on them.
"We played in a tournament and it was beamed on TV to 50 countries. You could see it was difficult for some of the lads to comprehend but it's all part of the education. Welcome to being a player at Liverpool Football Club."
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