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Liverpool FC have slashed numbers at their Kirkby Academy by around 15% as they focus their attention on quality rather than quantity.

Over the past 12 months the Reds have set about reducing the size of their squads from under-9s through to under-21s. The total number of youngsters on the club’s books has dropped from around 240 to under 200.

In a wide-ranging interview with the ECHO, Liverpool Academy director Alex Inglethorpe revealed how it’s part of a strategy designed to focus their resources on the most talented boys in order to bolster their bid to get more players through to the first-team set-up.

“The definition of Academy is that it should be a place of elite,” Inglethorpe told the ECHO.

“It should be the case that when you look a player or their parents in the eye, you think there’s a genuine chance of them ending up playing for Liverpool.

“Often it does the parents and the players a disservice if you are taking boys just to fill up numbers. That doesn’t seem right to me. Often those boys will go to other clubs, be happy and stand a far better opportunity themselves by playing regularly.

“The changes started last season. We had around 235/240 before, it’s just under 200 boys now and that figure will head south still.

“The focus here now isn’t on having a specific number in each age group, it’s around wanting a specific level of quality in each age group.

“There is no perfect number to have in an age group. If there are 25 boys, all unbelievable talents, all gifted, all got a real chance, then great we’ll have 25.

“But there’s no point having 25 boys in an age group if you think only 10 have the long-term potential to stay on and become scholars or under-21s players. It’s not fair to the remainder of the group.

“In an Academy there is a huge pull on coaching, resources and the level of attention you can give each family. We have looked at the level of quality and tried to be as fair to everyone as we possibly can.”

*Don’t miss the ECHO website on Thursday morning for Inglethorpe on Klopp's faith in youth, Heighway's return and his mission to get more Scousers into the Liverpool ranks

What do you make of this? Let us know in the comments section, or @LivEchoLFC