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Liverpool’s 18-year-old striker, Lewis Koumas, has made quite the impression on his new Wales teammates, as well as legend Ian Rush.
It wasn’t until March that Koumas made his Wales U21 debut, scoring the winner in a 2-1 win over Lithuania.
Now, during his first training camp as a senior Wales international, Koumas has shared a video showing some highlights from a recent training session in Portugal.
In the video, he shows off some seriously impressive shots that even prompted shouts from teammates that he was ‘like Gareth Bale’.
@Wales ? pic.twitter.com/qowNQrjXEN
— Lewis Koumas (@LewisKoumas) June 5, 2024
That’s extremely high praise, and Rush didn’t help take the pressure off his shoulders when he visited the Algarve camp.
Speaking to manager Rob Page and Koumas, Rush joked: “I’m not going to go over this and he’s not going to score!”
During the conversation, they talked about the youngster’s debut goal for Liverpool, with Rush joking: “I watched it. I said who is that? Who is that little kid?”
Page then teased Rush by reminding him how long it took him to score his first goal for Liverpool. Rush scored his first of 346 goals in his 10th appearance for the Reds.
Wales will not be going to Euro 2024 this summer. They were knocked out of the qualifiers in March by Poland on penalties.
This, however, allowed the likes of Koumas to play in the upcoming friendlies against Gibraltar and Slovakia.
Welsh strikers?@LFC | @LewisKoumas | @Ian_Rush9 | #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/UTV7JqtW9h
– Wales ??????? (@Wales) June 5, 2024
The 18-year-old’s inclusion is a sign that he will be part of Wales’ longer-term plans, with Page recently saying: “The games we’ve got give us an opportunity to develop some of these younger players and expose them to the environment.
“They will taste it, so they will come in September when we play the League of Nations, and next year when the World Cup qualifiers start, they have already tasted that experience.
“How can I ignore it when (Koumas) has done what he has done for Liverpool in the first team?
“It would be foolish of me not to raise these two guys.”
Another player the manager has been talking about is 17-year-old Leeds midfielder Charlie Crew, who is yet to make a first-team appearance for his club.
Wales play Gibraltar on June 6 at 5pm (BST) and Slovakia on June 9 at 7.45pm, with both games available to watch on S4C and Premier Sports 1.
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