{"id":670102,"date":"2026-01-03T00:55:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-03T00:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/670102\/"},"modified":"2026-01-03T00:55:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-03T00:55:16","slug":"who-is-ifeanyi-ndukwe-top-talent-has-chosen-liverpool-for-january-transfer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/670102\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Ifeanyi Ndukwe? Top talent has &#8216;chosen Liverpool&#8217; for January transfer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Liverpool is hopeful of signing Ifeanyi Ndukwe from Austria Wien after he was identified as a top prospect by the Reds&#8217; director of global talent Matt Newbury<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0_GettyImages-2247323714.jpg\" alt=\"Young Austrian defender Ifeanyi Ndukwe\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>Ifeanyi Ndukwe looks set to join Liverpool(Image: 2025 FIFA)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Liverpool is reportedly closing in on a deal to sign Austrian defensive prospect Ifeanyi Ndukwe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The 17-year-old is expected to move to Merseyside next summer, after Austria Wien agreed to sell the talented center-back to <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpool.com\/\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" rel=\"follow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\">Liverpool<\/a>. Ndukwe turns 18 in March, and Liverpool hopes to formalize a deal in time for Ndukwe to join up with his new team for the start of pre-season in July.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\"><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/6935695\/2026\/01\/02\/liverpool-ifeanyi-ndukwe-transfer-talks\/\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" tabindex=\"0\">The Athletic<\/a> reports that Ndukwe will initially go into the Under-21 setup, although Liverpool believes he has the potential to make the step up to senior level.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Ndukwe was reportedly identified as a player of interest by Matt Newberry, who was promoted to the role of Liverpool\u2019s director of global talent just over a year ago.<\/p>\n<p>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpool.com\/liverpool-fc-news\/features\/ex-liverpool-star-reveals-private-33159250\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"33159250\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ex-Liverpool star reveals private chat with Harvey Elliott over transfer decision<\/a>READ MORE: <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.liverpool.com\/liverpool-fc-news\/features\/6-former-premier-league-players-33158918\" data-tmdatatrack=\"read-more\" data-tmdatatrack-articleid=\"33158918\" data-tmdatatrack-source=\"editorial\" tabindex=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">6 former Premier League players currently at Charlotte as Harvey Elliott finds out<\/a>Who is Ifeanyi Ndukwe?<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Ndukwe was born in Vienna to a Nigerian father and a German mother, and began his soccer career at WAF Brigittenau \u2013 a soccer club in Vienna.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">In 2016, Ndukwe left WAF Brigittenau to join the Austria Wien academy, where he has been ever since.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">In March 2025, Ndukwe made his senior debut for Austria Wien&#8217;s reserve team, which played in the third tier of the Austrian soccer league system.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Ndukwe ended up appearing 13 times for the reserve team in a campaign which culminated in promotion to the second tier.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/0_GettyImages-2247322037.jpg\" alt=\"Ndukwe celebrates after scoring against England at the Under-17 World Cup last November\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>Ndukwe celebrates after scoring against England at the Under-17 World Cup last November(Image: 2025 FIFA)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">The youngster signed a professional contract with Austria Wien until 2028 last summer, but is yet to make his debut for the senior team, despite being named among the substitutes on several occasions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">At international level, Ndukwe has played 15 times for Austria&#8217;s Under-17 side, and was a regular in the team that reached the final of the Under-17 World Cup in Qatar in November.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Austria narrowly lost the final 1-0 to Portugal, but Ndukwe enjoyed a productive tournament on a personal level, lining up in seven of Austria&#8217;s eight games \u2013 only missing the semi-final due to suspension.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Ndukwe also showed he has an eye for goal as he found the net in Austria&#8217;s 4-0 win over England in the last 16.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \" data-tmdatatrack=\"content-unit\" data-tmdatatrack-type=\"paragraph\">Ndukwe already stands at six feet and five inches \u2013 and he could get even taller considering he is still only 17 years old. He is described as an &#8220;imposing figure&#8221; by The Athletic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liverpool is hopeful of signing Ifeanyi Ndukwe from Austria Wien after he was identified as a top prospect&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670103,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[51101,748,393,4884,179,763,2357,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-670102","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-academy","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-liverpool","13":"tag-liverpool-fc","14":"tag-transfers","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115828446289727754","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}