Jordon Ibe is a player who likes to do things his own way. The career path that led him from London to Liverpool has many parallels with that of Raheem Sterling, though it would be a mistake to categorise him as some sort of follow-up act, even if he did share the England player’s shisha pipe notoriety in photographs published last month. For one thing Sterling has never been booked for celebrating a goal with his mum. That actually happened to Ibe in a league match when he was playing for Wycombe as a 15-year-old schoolboy. The goal went in, a screamer against Sheffield Wednesday which put Ibe into the record books as Wycombe’s youngest ever goalscorer, and he made straight for his family standing behind the perimeter fence on half way.

Perhaps he might have got away with a cheery wave or a pointed gesture but a few hugs, kisses and backslaps later he was in the referee’s book for inciting the crowd. “I was just delighted, I’ll never forget that day,” the 19-year-old says now. “I could have done without the booking because I had school on the Monday and I felt I would never live it down. Everyone was great about it when I got there, though. My friends and the teachers were just the same, and in my science class we managed to watch the game again.”

To say Ibe is close to his parents would be understating the case. He fancied Liverpool in the first place because his dad is a lifelong supporter, albeit from a distance while growing up in the south, and when Anfield came calling along with other Premier League representatives once word spread of Ibe’s talent as a 14-year-old, his mum insisted he stay on at school long enough to take his exams at 16. That is how he came to be playing for Wycombe while attending school in Camberwell. Once his 16th birthday arrived and Liverpool were still interested, Ibe’s parents moved to Merseyside to stay close to their son. Which they still need to do, in spite of Ibe’s increasing maturity, because they act as his advisers in lieu of an agent.

You read that right. A 19-year-old Premier League prospect, already a success at first-team level and being tipped to join Gareth Southgate’s Under-21s for the European Championship in June, does not have an agent. Furthermore, he does not want one. “I don’t believe I need one,” he insists.

“I think my parents can do the job and they are the best people to have around me. My main concern has always been playing football and if I had a decision on a contract or something else off the pitch then I would always go to my parents for advice anyway. I would still do that even I had an agent, so I don’t really see the point. If I need help, my parents will sort it out. My family will always be No1 to me, and I trust them implicitly.”

One decision Ibe is going to have to make soon is which country to opt for at international level. He has played for England at youth levels up to but not including under-21s – that may change in the summer but he says there has been no contact with Southgate yet – but still has the option of declaring for Nigeria if he wishes, for whom he is eligible through his father. “It is a decision I have been thinking about, but not one I need to make yet,” he says. “When I do have a choice to make I will sit down with my family, and probably the gaffer here as well, and see what’s the best decision.”

That is for the future, what matters more to Liverpool supporters at present is what happens in the remaining games of the season. Manchester United unexpectedly losing three in a row before Saturday’s win at Crystal Palace presented an opportunity to finish in fourth place to anyone in a position to take it, though it was debatable whether Liverpool were still in that position after dropping points to Hull and West Bromwich Albion in recent weeks.

On Sunday Liverpool are at Chelsea, where José Mourinho is unlikely to be in generous mood even after securing the title. United are seven points ahead, though they still have to play Arsenal and what could be a tricky final-day fixture if Hull are playing for survival. There is a sliver of hope for Liverpool, though anything less than three points from Stamford Bridge would put their ambitions on hold for another season.

“All we can do is try to win our remaining games and see where that takes us,” Ibe says. “If it doesn’t happen for us this season there’s always next season for us to prove ourselves and get back to how we nearly won the Premier League.”

There speaks the unhurried equanimity of youth. Most Liverpool supporters, not to mention the manager, are considerably more impatient for results but time is on Ibe’s side and Brendan Rodgers prides himself on giving young players a chance.

“This season has been a bit of a bonus for me, I thought I would be at Derby the whole time,” he says. “Even when the manager asked me to come back from loan I wondered whether I would get near the first team, but he put me in, he delivered on his promise and I must thank him for that. It gave me a lot of confidence, and hopefully something similar will happen for the likes of Cam Brannagan, Jordan Rossiter and Jerome Sinclair in the near future.

“Raheem has already established himself and I’ve learned a lot from him, too. You have to be impressed with his mentality. Even if he is not playing well or things are not going his way in a game, he will still deliver. There are a lot of young players waiting to come through here and with senior players leaving they should get an opportunity. Hopefully we will become the future of the club.”