Liverpool winger Lewis Koumas had a dream senior debut in the FA Cup fifth-round clash against Southampton – scoring a beautiful goal in the 3-0 thrashing.
Better known as ‘Louie’, the 18-year-old had been an unused substitute in the Carabao Cup final win over Chelsea and took his opportunities with both hands to dazzle the Anfield crowd on his senior debut.
A product of the Liverpool academy, Koumas joined the club as an 11-year-old in 2016 from Tranmere Rovers after being born in Chester, England and has steadily moved up the ranks – playing for their under-18 and under-21 sides.
This season, before his senior debut, he had made 15 appearances for both teams and scored 12 goals – impressing Jurgen Klopp enough to give him his chance against Southampton and his decision ultimately got validated.
The German gaffer praised his effort against the Saints, but also delivered a warning after the game –
Lewis [Koumas] is a fantastic finisher but they’ve got to learn and improve.
He’s the son of ex-Wales midfielder Jason Koumas – who played for clubs like West Bromwich Albion and Wigan Athletic and made 96 Premier League appearances in his career.
Lewis attended the Wirral School Boys (in Wirral, North West England) and played for their school team before his move to Liverpool, playing with Robbie Fowler’s son Jacob.
Despite making his bow for the senior team, Koumas is still quite far away from matching the senior players’ stature or wages.
The teenager signed his professional contract with the Reds last year, which runs up until 2026. However, the 18-year-old is rumoured to only be earning a weekly salary of £760 with his current deal.
Koumas is currently tied up with the CAA Stellar agency which is spearheaded by renowned agent Jonathan Barnett.
Koumas has displayed the quality and versatility to excel for the senior team going forward. The 5’9’ youngster is naturally a left-winger who loves to drift inwards to the box and score goals.
He can also play as a centre-forward and a right-winger if necessary, having the adaptability and hard-working nature to be an ideal team player.
The teenager has been praised for his energetic playing style, with Liverpool’s U21s manager Barry Lewtas describing his style as –
He’s a real energetic frontline player, loves to run in behind, he is aggressive in how he approaches the game and has really good technique.
Even though he has excelled as a winger this season, Koumas can be equally lethal as a centre-forward as the Reds’ U-18 manager Marc Bridge-Wilkinson stated after the youngster scored four goals for Liverpool in an U18s match against Middlesbrough in 2022 –
He’s a good footballer. He’s very good at running without the ball, he is very good at running forwards. His movement and timing is excellent – and he likes to finish. He’s played in wide positions, as a midfielder, he’s even played at full-back for different age groups and he has played as a No 9 as well, but I don’t think he has ever played there consistently. I’ve told him well done. He obviously deserves a lot of credit.
During his time at Liverpool, Koumas has constantly kept changing his shirt number. He made his debut for the senior team wearing the no. 67 shirt but has mostly worn the no.11 shirt for the U21 and U18 teams and even the no.7 and no.9 shirts occasionally at youth levels.
Even though he had to wait quite long to get his senior Liverpool debut, the 18-year-old has always shown maturity beyond his years and showcased a quality that made him come off as someone much older.
His first coach at Wirral School boys, Danny Hart reflected on Koumas’ first impact in the school team and recalled –
Lewis was class. I can still remember his first trial. All of us coaches were stood there watching him and it was a ‘wow’ moment. He played like a 16-year-old when he was 10. It was just bizarre, the quality he had. From that first trial alone he was just unreal. He was like the driver and the engine. You could play him wherever you needed to. He was such an athlete, which helped, and he was so switched on tactically. You could give him the ball and he knew what to do with it. All of the players looked up to him.
After making such a powerful impact in his Liverpool debut, Koumas’ next focus will inevitably be to play for a senior international team. What is interesting is that there are a variety of options at his disposal.
He’s already played for the Wales U19 team, being eligible with his father being Welsh – but he can also play for England as he was born in the team. Incidentally, Koumas can also play for Cyprus through his paternal grandfather’s roots in the country.
Lewis will also be hoping that after his emphatic senior debut, his stats on FC 24 will improve too. He’s currently available to play in the game with a starting overall of 60 and a maximum potential of 79. In Football Manager 2024, he can be signed for a meagre £744,000 and has a maximum potent ability of three stars.
Koumas will have to take significant strides forward in his career and keep performing at a high level consistently for Liverpool for those stats to go up.
Captain Virgil van Dijk has the perfect message for him –
In my career I’ve seen players who make their debuts after coming through the ranks and then disappear. For them, it is about taking it all in and keep working and I am sure they will as they are at an amazing club to do that. They have to keep improving, keep working; staying humble is a very important thing but we have a great culture and I’m definitely one of the guys to make sure they keep doing that.
Lewis will be smart to heed this advice if he wants to eclipse his father’s career and make millions of fans worldwide remember his name for a long time.
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