Arsenal was his favorite club as a child. Thierry Henry is the preferred player. He also had the talent to become something of a French legend. He was taken by Liverpool at the age of 14 from West Bromwich Albion’s youth team. England’s star striker Raheem Sterling was also in the Liverpool academy at that time. He was compared with Sterling. Liverpool also saw the spark in him. Otherwise, he would not have been brought from the bench to the field at the age of 16 years and 6 days.
But what the Creator! On September 26, 2012, Jerome Sinclair made history for Liverpool, which became the highest achievement in his football career. Good thing, history is the record of being the youngest player in the history of Liverpool, which no one has been able to break to this day.
British media outlet The Athletic reported that Sinclair was patted on the back by his teammates after making history that day against his childhood club West Bromwich Albion. After returning from that match in the League Cup, Sinclair said, “A dream come true.”
Played in West Bromwich’s age group from the age of 8. Born in Birmingham, local club West Bromwich Albion. Sinclair couldn’t have been a more fitting opponent to make history.
Jerome Sinclair is still the answer to the question of who is the youngest player to play for Liverpool.
Over the next decade, only Harvey Elliott came close to Sinclair’s feat. In 2019, Elliott made his debut for Liverpool in the League Cup at the age of 16 years and 174 days. Jerome Sinclair is still the answer to the question of who is the youngest player to play for Liverpool. But even in the saga of lost talent, Sinclair’s name will be at the top.
In 2016, Liverpool played only 5 matches before releasing him. Scored one goal for the All Reds in the 2015–16 FA Cup against Exeter City. Do you know what Sinclair does now?
The 26-year-old forward, who played in the England under-16 and under-17 teams, told the British tabloid Sun himself, “I am the youngest player in the history of Liverpool. But after 10 years I got fired from the last club and now I run a fried chicken shop in Birmingham.’
Sinclair joined Watford in 2016 after leaving Liverpool. This club in Vicarage Road didn’t get a chance to play like that either. He played only 5 matches in all competitions. Played on loan from Watford to Birmingham City, Sunderland, Oxford United, VVV Venlo (Dutch club) and CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria. Sinclair has been without a club since his contract with Watford expired in 2021.
He had a trial at League One side Oxford United last year. But Oxford did not agree to a permanent contract. Back in Birmingham, Sinclair now runs a branch of Morley’s Fried Chicken on Dudley Road. He owns the shop.
He was in charge of Liverpool’s Academy
But in 2011, Sinclair’s fate was different. Frank McParland, who was in charge of the Liverpool Academy at the time, recalled to Athletic, ‘All the big clubs in the world wanted Jerome. We were also happy to bring him into the team at the age of 14. A scout talked about him… Let’s do the deal for 2 million pounds.’ Then Jordan Williams, the forward of Bolton Wanderers who was in Liverpool’s academy, also remembered Sinclair, ‘I played with him after he joined Liverpool. He was the best striker I had ever seen till that age.’
Sinclair’s career was also hampered by injuries. According to McParland, “The biggest problem was injuries. Nothing happened until the age of 17. But then he got injured several times in a row. He couldn’t do anything at Liverpool, it’s sad.
Sinclair has 72,000 followers on Twitter, and nearly 66,000 on Instagram. But Sinclair rarely posts on social media. Understandably, he has moved away from football. It is not certain whether he will ever return to the game.
Even though his career is over, Sinclair gave advice to the young players, ‘My experience as a footballer is that getting too emotional in good or bad times is harmful. You can’t be completely behind the curtain and you can’t be too much in front.’
