Liverpool stars commit to project in big coup for Wales

Wales U21 manager Matty Jones is confident Lewis Koumas is tied into the Wales project, as he receives his first call up to the squad.

Koumas has been in and around the Liverpool first team in recent weeks and made his senior debut for Jurgen Klopp’s side in the FA Cup against Southampton last month.

Jones revealed he had talks with Lewis’ father, Jason, in recent weeks, and believes now is the right time to integrate him into the squad.

“I spoke to Jason on a visit to Liverpool recently, and he spoke about holding Lewis back from international experiences in younger years, just because he wanted him to focus heavily on his domestic football, and I suppose to create a club career and excel in that in order for that international award to come in at a later date, and that’s currently happening.

“Lewis has had exposure to our U19 group and did well, and we want to integrate him into this group. We need to take advantage of his confidence, but also to blood him into the group patiently.”

There were talks of England aggressively pursuing Koumas around the same time they were looking at Charlie Crew.

When asked if Koumas was committed to Wales, Jones was confident he was, and revealed he’s been to Liverpool numerous times to spend time with the starlet.

“I’m absolutely convinced he will stay in the Welsh system. I have a lot of confidence in our young Welsh lads, because when they come into camps and so on, they connect and there’s a relationship built.

“We do our due diligence weeks before, I myself have been to Liverpool four times now and watched him play, had lunch with him, understand him as a human being to know how best to manage him and just what makes him tick.

“But also, it’s good for me to learn what his abilities and threats are and how it would work for us as a team. All that accumulates to one big package where hopefully he can come with us and flourish.”

Poaching a fellow Red

Alongside Koumas there are two other new faces in this Wales team.

The first is Terence Miles. A centre-back who also plays for Liverpool, Miles has spent some time in the English system and has come through their youth teams.

However, he is now making the jump to Wales, and Jones is incredibly excited about what the defender can do.

“I think you can expect a lot from Terence. He’s a great human being, a massive character, and he will certainly add to our environment. Terence has been an ongoing project. He was selected by England in the younger age groups. My relationship with Terence started about four years ago, and finally he’s shown that commitment to us.

“It’s a nice opportunity to bring him in and to showcase what his strengths are. He’s just extended his contract with Liverpool, which gives him more security, and puts him in contention for our next campaign as well. That for me is more important than anything.”

Another new defender in the ranks is Alex Williams.

Playing for West Brom, Williams has suffered a long-term injury of late, but is now ready for international football.

“With Alex, he’s suffered an eight-to-nine-month injury and he’s lost that international experience and being included in those U19 teams. He’s an extremely talented young player, has a wonderful physical profile, and fantastic with his technical ability.

“He fits perfectly into what we look for, he’s been throughout the system, and we want to continue that journey for him.”

Lithuania test

Wales are gearing up for another important game next week, as they take on Lithuania at Rodney Parade.

Jones’ team currently sit second in Group I level on points with top of the table Denmark, but the Danes do have a game in hand.

This month sees them take on bottom of the table Lithuania, who they beat away from home, but they did concede two late goals in a 3-2 win.

The manager knows how pivotal this game will be and is going to be putting pressure on his players for the game in Newport.

“If we have any aspiration of qualifying for this tournament, we have to win this game against Lithuania. That’s the pressure I’ll be putting on these players, and the reason I want to do that is because there was an element of complacency that creeped in when we played Lithuania away.

“We were three up, and in the last five minutes we conceded two. That was a huge lesson for me, and there were a lot of learnings for all of us from that game. We’ll make sure we’re fully prepared because Lithuania are a fantastic counterattacking team.

“They’ve got a couple of incredible individuals in their team which we always need to be wary of. But complacency will be addressed with this group.”

After that qualifier, the group travel to Turkey where they will take on Morocco’s U23 team.

Morocco are preparing for the Olympics later this year, and Jones is intrigued to see how his side fare against a senior age group.

“It’s a very exciting challenge. We were searching for a friendly, and it wasn’t ideal because they’re an U23 age group, and my decision to go the opposite end of the age group and give exposure to different players.

“Morocco could, potentially, put out a very strong side because they’re in preparation for the Olympics. I do worry about the imbalance in the game, but it’s an opportunity I’m excited about.”

WALES U21 SQUAD TO PLAY LITHUANIA AND MOROCCO

Ed Beach (Chelsea), Evan Watts (Swansea City)

Matt Baker (Newport County), Terence Miles (Liverpool), Luca Hoole (Bristol Rovers), Jay Williams (Fulham), Zac Ashworth (Bolton Wanderers), Owen Beck (Dundee United), Tom Davies (Kilmarnock), Fin Stevens (Oxford United), Alex Williams (West Brom)

Eli King (Ross County), Joel Cotterill (Swansea City), Joel Colwill (Cardiff City), Charlie Crew (Leeds United), Oli Hammond (Oldham Athletic), Ben Lloyd (Swansea City), Oli Ewing (Leicester City), Luke Harris (Exeter City)

Chris Popov (Leicester City), Pat Jones (Huddersfield Town), Lewis Koumas (Liverpool), Cian Ashford (Cardiff City)

(Featured Image: Ashley Crowden/FAW)