Much has been made of Liverpool's impressive academy in recent weeks as Jurgen Klopp has brought several talented youngsters into the first-team set-up.
The likes of Jayden Danns, Bobby Clark, James McConnell, Lewis Koumas, Mateusz Musialowski, and Conor Bradley have all made appearances for the senior side this season, having come through the youth sides.
They will all be hoping to follow in Trent Alexander-Arnold's footsteps over the years to come to establish themselves as regular starters for the Reds.
However, not every young player who makes their debut for the first-team has what it takes to make the step up week-in-week-out, and some of the aforementioned talents will move on and forge a career elsewhere.
A prime example of that was exciting wonderkid Ovie Ejaria, who made his first appearance for Liverpool before U23s teammate Alexander-Arnold, as he came through the academy but failed to make his mark at senior level.
Ovie Ejaria's Liverpool career in numbers
The versatile midfielder worked his way through the youth teams on Merseyside and racked up three appearances for the U18s and 26 for the U23s before his first-team debut.
Klopp handed the then-18-year-old starlet his first outing against Derby County in the League Cup in September 2016, and his Premier League debut came two months later in a 6-1 win over Watford.
During that 2016/17 campaign, Ejaria played eight first-team matches under the German head coach, which included three in the FA Cup, three in the League Cup, and two in the Premier League, but failed to register a single goal or assist.
He did not do enough in those eight games to convince Klopp to integrate him into the team on a regular basis and was sent out on loan to Sunderland the following season, where he produced one goal and zero assists in 11 Championship clashes.
Ejaria then spent the first six months of the 2018/19 campaign on loan with Steven Gerrard at Rangers in Scotland, where the young whiz scored two goals and provided one assist in 28 outings.
The former Liverpool captain hailed him as "excellent" during their time together in Glasgow but it was short-lived as it was only a short-term loan.
That arrangement came to an end in January 2019 and the attacking midfielder, who can also play out wide, then spent 18 months on loan with Reading in the Championship.
The versatile dynamo made 52 appearances in the second tier during that time – scoring four goals and assisting seven – and that convinced the Royals to snap him up on a permanent basis, who had an option to buy him at the end of his loan.
Trent Alexander-Arnold's Liverpool career in numbers
The now-England international, Alexander-Arnold, played with Ejaria for the U18s and the U23s with Liverpool – and the U21s for England – before they both made their first-team breakthroughs during the 2016/17 campaign.
His debut came after the midfielder's, though, as Klopp did not hand him his first appearance until October 2016 – a month after Ejaria's bow – against Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup.
Like his former academy teammate, the impressive right-back did not immediately become a regular in the side as he ended the season with 12 senior games under his belt, seven of which came in the Premier League.
However, unlike Ejaria, Alexander-Arnold did enough to convince Klopp to make him a part of his squad for the 2017/18 campaign, whilst the midfielder went away to Sunderland on loan.
The English defender made 33 first-team appearances that term, including ten in the Champions League and 19 in the Premier League, but was yet to showcase his true creative talent with just two assists in those games.
His breakthrough as an outstanding performer at first-team level came during the following season as the academy graduate assisted a staggering 16 goals from right-back in 40 outings.
He assisted four goals in 11 matches as Liverpool won the Champions League – with a 2-0 victory over Spurs in the final – and set up 12 in 29 Premier League games.
Since then, Alexander-Arnold has reached 302 appearances for the club in all competitions and contributed with 18 goals and 82 assists as a right-back.
The England star has won the Premier League, the Champions League, the FA Cup, and the League Cup (twice) since coming through the academy, which – along with his statistics – speak to how impressive his career at the club has been so far.
What happened to Ovie Ejaria
Meanwhile, Ejaria's career has gone in the other direction since his first-team debut for Liverpool, which came before Alexander-Arnold's back in 2016.
Reading paid a reported fee of £3.5m to sign him on a permanent basis in the summer of 2020, after his 18-month loan spell in Berkshire, and he enjoyed a strong 2020/21 campaign in the Championship.
Appearances
38
Goals
3
Assists
5
Big chances created
8
Dribbles completed per game
2.7
Duel success rate
50%
As you can see in the table above, the former England U21 international provided drive from midfield with goals, assists, and dribbles, whilst being solid by winning half of his physical duels.
Unfortunately, Ejaria missed 14 competitive games through injury the following season, which restricted him to 26 Championship outings for Reading.
He then featured in just eight league games for the Royals during the 2022/23 campaign as his team were relegated down to League One last year.
In December 2023, having failed to make a single appearance during the 2023/24 season by that point, Reading announced that the midfielder had left the club by mutual consent.
Their statement revealed that their need to reduce expenditure and Ejaria's 'injury and fitness' issues meant that an amicable agreement was made to allow him to leave.
The attacking midfielder did not find a new club during the January transfer window and has not played a competitive match for any club since the 2022/23 campaign.
This means that he is currently clubless at the age of 26, when the former Liverpool wonderkid should be in the prime years of his career, and it remains to be seen what the next step will be for him.
Hopefully, Ejaria will put his injury issues behind him and find a new team before long to get his career back on track.