NewsInterview: Federico Chiesa's example for LFC U21s, senior opportunities and Rio Ngumoha
Barry Lewtas spoke of the hugely beneficial 'learning opportunity' his Liverpool U21s received when they were joined in training by Federico Chiesa.
Chiesa, the recent arrival from Juventus, continued his individual programme by taking part in the young Reds' Thursday session, which took place on the senior side of the AXA Training Centre.
U21s head coach Lewtas believes his players once again saw first-hand the standards required to make it to the top of the game.
He told Liverpoolfc.com: "We've been coming round here for a while and the first-team players, their level of professionalism is unbelievable, it really is.
"Obviously you can see from the quality of his career so far, this is why he's at one of the best clubs in the world. His professionalism and his quality was really good.
"It obviously just gives our boys a little bit of a chance to play against someone of that quality [and] it's a really good learning opportunity for them.
"I think any time when we come round to the first-team side, which we do a lot, is always really good. It's a change of scenery but also more importantly gets us around first-team players and first-team staff, which is important for the boys."
Along with Chiesa, there was another new face involved in the U21s' workout in Rio Ngumoha.
The 16-year-old recently completed a switch to the club's Academy set-up.
"It's a nice introduction for Rio," Lewtas continued. "It's a chance for him to get to know the U21 players and an opportunity to train as well with the first-team staff.
"Getting to know people as soon as you come is really useful because it helps you settle, it makes you more familiar and it gives you that grounding.
"Obviously with Federico, we've done this a number of times now [where] we'll bring boys round, and it gives him a chance to build his fitness and get him ready for the season as well."
Thursday's session was run by first team individual development coach Aaron Briggs, who arrived at the club this summer after various roles with VfL Wolfsburg, AS Monaco, Manchester City and others.
Lewtas said: "Obviously it's an opportunity for Aaron to see the younger boys as well. It's been a busy start to the season for our team and the first team.
"But opportunities like this just allows Aaron, not to put a face to the name because he knows who the players are, but getting to know players is really important."
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