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[article=http://www.topdrawersoccer.com/club-soccer-articles/brooks-lennon-to-sign-with-liverpool_aid36729]U.S. teenager Brooks Lennon will sign with Liverpool in the coming days, a source told TopDrawerSoccer. It marks the end of a rather long courting process between Liverpool and one of the top U.S. national team prospects.
Lennon, eager to join one of the top clubs in England, has been training with Liverpool on and off since 2013. Due to the strict FA rules on admittance of non-EU players, Lennon was forced to dance around many hurdles before joining the club officially. With his Irish passport en route, Lennon is set to join the Merseyside club.
The arrival of Lennon in Liverpool is not much of a surprise given how long this process has drawn out. However, his quality has not diminished during that time. He still remains one of the best U.S. prospects thanks to his time with Real Salt Lake Arizona.
When not training with Liverpool, Lennon has been tearing up the Development Academy with RSL AZ. Lennon scored 31 goals this past season for the RSL AZ U18 team. He was joint top scorer on the team and in the Development Academy for that age group.
Lennon, 17 years old, figures to be a key piece of the U.S. U20 Men’s National Team for the 2017 World Cup cycle. He is a dynamic player who could fit in on the wing or as a target striker. He impressed at the U18 age group with his relentless work ethic and quality in the final third.
His appearances with Liverpool have been equally prolific. Lennon scored the game-winner against Schalke for the Liverpool U17 squad last summer. He had three goals in two games last January while on tour with a Liverpool youth side.
The production had Liverpool coaches and scouts keen to sign him from his first appearances. Real Salt Lake also had strong interest in signing the academy player, but the historic English club won out.
Lennon is the only U.S. player at Liverpool after former players Villyan Bijev and Marc Pelosi both were released in the past two years. Bijev is now with Cherno More (Bulgaria). Pelosi is a free agent and was training with the San Jose Earthquakes last week. [/article]
When he played for the U16:
Goals at 0.08, 0.35 and 1.02
U18:
Goal at 1.27
Oct 2013:
[article]Lennon trained with Liverpool in April and started for the club’s U-16 academy team in a scrimmage. He could be going back to Merseyside soon. This time, for good.
“I’ve been in contact with them the past several months,” Lennon told ODFC news earlier this week. “We’ve been communicating a lot with Liverpool, trying to figure things out with the E.U. passport and a visa. Hopefully it all plays out.
“The plan is to go over there and play with the academy and see how it goes. Hopefully it all plays out soon and if it does, that’s great.”
But that doesn’t mean Lennon is forgetting about his play and progress in the U.S. He participated in the U.S. U-18 national team camp last month, scoring twice in the team’s scrimmage against Real So Cal U-18 and earning an assist in an intrasquad scrimmage to help his side win. Lennon was coming off an impressive stint with the U.S. U-17 national team over the summer when he led the Caspian Cup in Azerbaijan with seven goals in four matches and was a starter when the team won the Niigata International Tournament in Tokyo.
Back with RSL-AZ, Lennon and defender Justen Glad, a Tucson native, are the two players who are playing a year up with the academy club’s U-18 team.
“Right now, I’m focused on the this team and succeeding this season,” Lennon said.
He has. Lennon, who led RSL-AZ U-16 with 15 goals last season, started the U-18 team’s two games (both wins; over Chivas USA and the Los Angeles Galaxy) in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy season. He scored the eventual game-winning goal in a 2-0 win over Chivas USA.
Lennon is now a bonafide rising star. He is ranked third in leading youth soccer news website TopDrawerSoccer.com’s IMG Academy Top 150 rankings and the No. 1 forward at his age in the nation. The attention, which is likely to increase as the weeks pass, hasn’t gotten to his head.
“It feels good when people recognize my talent and my ability,” he said. “It’s something that I’ve dreamed of. But if I want to become a professional soccer player, I have to work hard every day. My mindset is just keep working harder whether things are going good or bad. Just keep working hard and hopefully sooner or later I can realize my dream.”[/article]
