Liverpool youngster Elijah Gift looks to be heading to Spain this summer for a fee said to be around £1 million.
The 16-year-old has been targeted by Athletic Bilbao after an impressive spell in Liverpool’s youth ranks.
The Athletic‘s James Pearce has reported that talks between the two clubs are at an “advanced stage” and that a move looks likely to be completed this summer.
It is understood that the club were keen to hold onto Gift, who has three goals and three assists to his name in the Under-18s Premier League this season.
But it appears that the Spanish side have been able to prize the prospect away from Liverpool due to the depth of quality in his position and the size of the fee.
The rise of Ben Doak is also likely to have played a part in the club’s decision to allow the player to move on, with the Scottish winger already having five senior appearances to his name after only turning 17 in November.
Harvey Blair, Trent Kone-Doherty and Ranel Young are all also showing promising signs of development in that area of the pitch, leaving the academy healthily stocked in attacking areas.
Gift was born in the Spanish town of Corella, placing him in line with Athletic Club’s unwritten policy of only signing players of Basque origin.
The rule places a premium for Athletic Club on players from that region, which will have been factored into the eventual price for the player.
The forward joined the Reds at under-12s level and has gone on to make 18 appearances in all competitions for the under-18s in 2022/23.
Only eight of those came as a starter, however, with the majority of his 959 minutes coming as a substitute for Marc Bridge-Wilkinson’s side.
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