JORDON IBE

PETE SOUTH looks at the rapid development of the teenage Liverpool winger...

Profile of the Liverpool starlet

make his the archetypal English wonderkid story. There was the time when he was 16 that he was called over by Kenny Dalglish to take part in a game with senior players. After scoring twice, Luis Suarez was asked to guess his age. He reasoned he must be at least 18.

There was the time he made his Liverpool debut in Jamie Carragher’s final appearance for the club, and he laid on an assist for Philippe Coutinho.

Then there was the Merseyside derby in February. He started the game and ended with Liverpool’s highest pass success rate (97.1%), the third most shots (two) and the Man of the Match award. All from wing-back.

Nowadays, there’s few who haven’t heard of Ibe. Both Carragher and Thierry Henry have heaped praise on the ‘mature’ boy with the world at his feet, while Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers speaks glowingly of his ‘wonderful talent’. Not many people will know it was almost over before it began.

Ibe, born and raised in south-east London, came to the attention of local scouts while playing for the Bermondsey and Rotherhithe district side, and then with Welling Wanderers FC.

When he was 11, he joined Charlton.When he was 12, he left.“I was there for a year and then my contract ran out and it wasn’t renewed,” he said afterwards.“I felt heartbroken. I felt like football was over for me.

“It’s stayed with me. It’s the only time I had been rejected. A lot of my friends were rejected from clubs and stopped playing football.”

Perhaps a small glimmer of that memory came back to him when it was confirmed that a knock picked up in Liverpool’s Europa League exit against Besiktas in late February was in fact knee ligament damage that would sideline him for six weeks.

However, delve into his past and there’s enough to suggest that the “I’ll be back stronger” caption that accompanied the Instagram picture of his knee in a brace weren’t empty words.

“He’s a very level-headed lad with his feet firmly on the ground,” Gary Waddock told

magazine.“His Mum gave him fantastic support and gave him the correct advice off the field.”

Ibe’s relationship with his mum Charlotte has been central to the success he’s enjoyed so far. She kept tabs on his progress with both Waddock and assistant Richard Dobson to ensure no stone was left unturned.

When he scored on his debut for Wycombe, it was Charlotte he ran to.

“You can see in the game against Sheffield, when he scored he gave his family a big hug” Waddock says.“He’s very level headed and his mum wouldn’t have it any other way.”

His loan spells with Birmingham and Derby were carefully considered and before his Liverpool Premier League debut against QPR, Charlotte drove him to Anfield and dropped him off.

Charlotte and Jordon resisted ‘immense pressure’ and the promise of big money to leave Wycombe when he was 14, and opted against staying in London when the chance to join Liverpool arose; a mature career decision based on Rodgers’ record of promoting youth.

On the pitch too Ibe is known for his lightning pace and trickery but he’s no textbook chalk-on-the-boots winger. He tells the story of Alex Inglethorpe, Liverpool’s academy director, showing him videos of Cristiano Ronaldo to improve his goal tally. Five goals in 20 league appearances for Derby shows his quick mind matches the speed of his feet.

Ibe’s career isn’t just a result of his own hard work either. Dobson revealed earlier this year that Ibe worked with a psychologist at Wycombe “so that he could deal with the pressures” that his rise would invite.

The 19-year-old has had to contend with comparisons to team-mate Raheem Sterling, but he’s walked his own path and is his own man. The world is his oyster...