Liverpool have struck an agreement to sign 18-year-old winger Djylian N'Guessan from St Etienne in a deal worth €5m, continuing the club's recent focus on recruiting promising young talent.
The young French forward will not move to Anfield immediately. Instead, he will officially become a Liverpool player in January, with the club initially sending him back out on loan to Ligue 1 side Brest for the first half of the season. Once the move is finalised in the new year, Liverpool will assess whether N'Guessan should remain in France to continue his development or be brought into the first-team environment on Merseyside.
N'Guessan has already shown flashes of considerable promise at youth international level. He has been a standout performer for France's Under-17 side, netting 11 goals in as many appearances for the age group. His form reached a peak during the 2025 European Under-17 Championship, where he scored four goals and was recognised for his performances by being named in the tournament's team of the competition. His displays also played a part in helping France reach the final of that tournament.
The agreement for N'Guessan represents the second young signing Liverpool have completed within the space of a week. The Merseyside club also reached a deal to sign goalkeeper Lucca Brughmans, whose transfer was arranged for a modest initial fee but could rise to as much as £30m depending on clauses attached to the deal.
These two additions form part of a broader strategy at Liverpool, where the club's Global Talent scouting department has been increasingly active in identifying and securing young players from across Europe and beyond over the past year. Alongside Brughmans and now N'Guessan, Liverpool have added several other emerging prospects to their ranks in the last 12 months. These include goalkeeper Armin Pesci, centre-backs Mor Talla N'Diaye and Ifeanyi Ndukwe, and midfielder Samuel Martinez.
The recruitment drive suggests Liverpool are placing significant emphasis on building a pipeline of talent for the future, rather than solely focusing on the finished article in the transfer market. By loaning N'Guessan out to a Ligue 1 club immediately after signing him, Liverpool appear intent on allowing the teenager to continue gaining first-team experience in a competitive European league before making a final decision on his long-term path at the club.
Brest, who will host N'Guessan for the opening half of the campaign, offer the youngster a platform to test himself in Ligue 1 football, a league he is already familiar with following his time in the French system with St Etienne. How he performs during that loan spell is likely to heavily influence Liverpool's eventual decision in January regarding his next step, whether that is a swift move to Anfield or a further period of development on loan elsewhere in France.
For now, N'Guessan's move underlines Liverpool's continued willingness to invest in young, unproven but highly rated talent from various footballing nations, betting on future potential rather than immediate first-team impact. The club's growing list of academy-age signings in the past year reflects a long-term recruitment philosophy that prioritises identifying talent early and nurturing it through structured loan arrangements before any decisions are made about integrating these players into the senior squad.
Based on reporting from Independent Football.