Bristol City are expected to confirm the arrival of ex-Liverpool prospect Ranel Young, with the transfer window around the cornerBristol City target Ranel Young in action during his time with Liverpool(Image: Photo by Nick Taylor/Liverpool FC/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

Ranel Young will primarily train with Bristol City’s Under-21s squad but also occasionally with the first team, Gerhard Struber has confirmed, with the Reds expected to confirm the arrival of the former Liverpool prospect soon.

As reported by Bristol Live earlier in December, the Robins are understood to have been in talks with Young, who is 19 years old, over a move to Ashton Gate. While no deal had been agreed at that stage, City are expected to announce the signing of the teenager during the winter transfer window.

The versatile forward departed Anfield at the end of the 2024/25 season, having opted against penning a new deal on Merseyside. Instead, he made the move to Serbia, where he joined second-tier side FK Usce, before he seemingly left after making just five league appearances.

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The last of those competitive outings came in September, and since then, Young has not been included in an FK Usce matchday squad.

Although that will no doubt mean he will have some cobwebs to dust off in red and white when his move to the West Country is confirmed, Struber is open to having the youngster in and around his squad, should he earn his place.

“It’s a really interesting player,” the head coach told Bristol Live when asked about the links with the teenager. “I would say he has a big future for his chest.

“We will park him, right now, in the Under-21s and look deep on his development. He will also train sometimes with me, and we are super open to bring him more and more.

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“When the performance in the Under-21s moves in a good way, he is more and more with me and the door is super wide open, also for him, [so] that he can very quickly [become] a player for us.”

Before his time in Serbia, Young joined Liverpool’s youth ranks as an Under-12 from Huddersfield Town. Having progressed through the Reds’ age groups, the teenager featured in both the FA Youth Cup and UEFA Youth League before he penned his first professional contract on Merseyside in May 2023.

A year later, he linked up with Liverpool’s Under-21 side and was also handed his first experience of first-team football by Arne Slot as he was named on the bench for the Reds’ Carabao Cup win over Brighton in October of last year. Ultimately, Young was an unused substitute as a Cody Gakpo brace and a Luis Diaz strike saw Slot’s side progress.

The teenager was named in a first-team matchday squad once more but again, didn’t feature, when Liverpool were knocked out of the FA Cup by a Plymouth Argyle team featuring now City midfielder Adam Randell.

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Given the brief nature of his stint in Serbia, Young looks set to arrive in BS3 with very little senior experience under his belt. Although that may have led some fans to question the Robins’ decision to add the 19-year-old to their youth ranks, the management at the HPC view this as an investment for the longer term.

“I watched him many times right now, and I know what [a] big talent we get,” Struber explained. “It’s a really interesting player – which I don’t say when I don’t mean it – so he has a big future for his chest.

“We have to help him, and we have to help to develop him in a way that he is interesting, in the end, for us and not only for the youth or for the next loan agreement.”

OPINION

OPINION