Denied! Dortmund beat LFC to the signing of 'top' midfield starlet. Major Loss?

Liverpool appear to have lost out on signing one of the USA's best young footballers.

According to a report in the Washington Post, U.S. U17 attacking midfielder Junior Flores has agreed a deal with Bundesliga giants Borussia Dortmund. Liverpool were also allegedly tracking the youngster. The report states:

"After a breakout performance with the U.S. under-17 squad at an international tournament last winter, Junior Flores...one of U.S. soccer’s top young players...began attracting interest from MLS and foreign clubs, including Paris Saint-Germain and Liverpool".

Flores agreed to a four-year deal, which is slated to start in March 2014, when he turns 18. Flores' father, Oscar, confirmed the Dortmund deal. He told the WP:

"We’re so happy about the Dortmund deal. We still don’t believe it’s really happening. We got a lot of calls from MLS, but it was way less money than Dortmund was offering"



Flores is the second young American footballer to commit to a major European club in the past year. Midfielder Gedion Zelalem, a 15-year-old German-born midfielder from the Olney Rangers youth program, is set to join Arsenal in January.

Liverpool have their own U.S youngster at Anfield. Last season, the club signed U17 USA Captain Marc Pelosi from the DeAnza Force Club in California. At the time, Frank McParland, Director of Liverpool FC's Academy, enthused:

"We're determined to identify the best possible talent globally and I'm delighted we've been able to to bring Marc in to the club."






Jaimie Kanwar