Jordon Ibe eager to follow in Sterling's footsteps

Monday 14 Jul 2014
Jordon Ibe targets a first-team breakthrough at Liverpool
Jordon Ibe has one clear target ahead of the 2014/15 season – and that is breaking into the Liverpool first-team.

The England Under-19 winger is highly-rated at Anfield, and after a loan spell at Birmingham City, he is now back at Melwood for pre-season with a clear aim of pushing on to the next level this term.

The 18-year old, who appeared twice for the Reds last season, caught the eye in a post-season friendly against Shamrock Rovers in May – a performance that has left him in confident spirits after the summer.

Raheem Sterling surges forward with the ball

Raheem Sterling played for England at the World Cup

 

"I'm trying to get into the first team and hopefully get minutes," Ibe told Liverpoolfc.com. “I’ll try to do well in pre-season first and see how it goes.

"I'm still quite young, I'm only 18, so I need to stay grounded, watch the senior players in my position, keep working hard and hopefully I can do well this season.

"I thought I did well in the last game [against Shamrock] and other youngsters did well. It's just about working hard and most of all impressing in pre-season and on tour.

"The manager's message was just to try to get more goals; working on my finishing is the most important thing."

Ibe is working hard at the club’s Melwood training ground, and the man with high hopes is not short of inspiration.

Born exactly one year after team-mate Raheem Sterling, Ibe is a big fan of his older colleague’s performances and is hoping to follow a similar path.

"He's only a year older than me so I need to follow in his footsteps, and watch all of the other attacking players. He's done well and scored a lot of goals.

"He's working hard all the time in training and impressing the manager. Because he's young, players are helping him, so hopefully they can do the same for me."

"It's very important, especially for the youngsters and the players who are not starting every week, to get into the manager's mind and be sharp as soon as we're back.”

By FA Staff