He made his first team debut last week in the friendly against Danish side Brondby, and now 16 year old Adam Phillps has had his dream turned into reality as manager Brendan Rodgers saw him worthy of a call up in the 33 man squad travelling to the USA for Liverpool's pre season tour.
Phillips is from the Lancashire town of Garstang and joined the Reds’ Academy at the age of 11 after three years with Blackburn Rovers.
After only finishing school this summer, he will be the youngest squad member on the plane.
Phillips excelled in the middle of midfield for the U18's last season and to go on to make a first team appearance like he did at such a young age is a credit to himself. But that now appears to only be the beginning, as he travels with Steven Gerrard, Daniel Agger and co. to train with the first team squad, gaining vital experience of what it takes to be at the top level, and hopefully getting a chance at some of the friendlies along the way too.
Adam Phillips is excellent with the ball at his feet and confident, as well as capable of always making things happen for his team. He is a set piece specialist who loves taking costless-kicks and has that something special in his locker to enable him to often score spectacular goals.
During the week, Adam himself tweeted to his followers a message that really did signify his fantastic achievement and highlighted the pure joy and delight he is feeling at the minute. It simply read ‘'Dreams do really come true’'.
Liverpool U18's coach Neil Critchley was delighted for the young lad, but saw it as no massive surprise.
“Adam came down for the first day two weeks ago when I did an induction meeting with the first years to welcome them aboard and tell them what to expect over the coming year,” Critchley said.
“On the following Monday Adam was called down to train with the first team at Melwood and we haven’t seen him since.I’m not surprised that the manager is keen to have a good look at him. He’s a talented lad who can play in a number of positions.
He played wide right against Brondby but he can also play centrally. He played No 6, No 8 and No 10 for the U18s last season. He has a great range of passing and he can score goals. He can do a bit of everything".
"Adam will handle it fine,” he added.
“It will be great for him to spend that amount of time with all the senior players and to work with Brendan and his staff – to see how they operate on a daily basis will be invaluable experience for someone of his age. He’s a mature lad - really level-headed and well grounded. I’m sure there will be a bit of nervous excitement but it won’t go to his head. He will take it all in his stride.”