Young midfielder Allan Rodriguez de Souza has officially signed for Liverpool in a £500,000 transfer from Internacional, the club confirmed via Twitter on Saturday. 

The 18-year-old has been in England over the past week, training with the Reds' first-team at Melwood after gaining permission from the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A side to do so, and was pictured alongside compatriots Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho earlier this week.

Now, Allan has sufficiently impressed enough to be taken on full-time at Anfield after he initially caught the eye of the club's scouts at the Frenz U18 International Cup, where he captained the competition's winning team - scoring twice in five games, as Liverpool's own  youngsters fell to Valencia in the quarter-finals.

Youngster Allan signs up with Liverpool 

The Reds stated that they have "secured" Allan for the future, and he is expected to start off life on Merseyside in the Academy set-up, with the pathway possibly there for the midfielder to progress to the higher youth ranks and then eventually into the first-team further down the line.

Immediately, however, he will likely start in Neil Critchley's under-18s side, with a spot in Michael Beale's under-21s the next step-up from there.

The Brazilian was also recently a part of the 16-man squad who travelled to Finland for the Reds' recent 2-0 pre-season victory over HJK Helsinki, but was an unused substitute as goals from Divock Origi and Philippe Coutinho gave Brendan Rodgers' side the victory. 

Reds making an effort to bolster youth sides

Allan, who was given the no.60 shirt in Helsinki, joins other promising Academy additions exciting winger Bobby Adekanye, who arrives from Barcelona, and highly-rated American striker Brooks Lennon, who scored 31 goals for Real Salt Lake's academy side last year.

The Reds also have young Uruguayan duo Juan Manuel Sanabria and Augustin Pereira, both from Nacional, currently on trial in Kirkby. The latter registered three assists as Sanabria, a 15-year-old striker, scored one in the under-16's 4-1 win over Lincoln City

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About the author
Charlie Malam
Digital Sports Writer at the Daily Express. First-class Staffordshire University Sports Journalism graduate. Formerly VAVEL UK's Liverpool FC editor and Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Contributor since June 2014.