Pep Guardiola summons the Liverpool hero’s son, who may even take Erling Haaland’s place

During Man City’s preseason tour of the United States, Pep Guardiola has included the son of a former Liverpool player in the travelling team.

It is commonly known that Liverpool’s current roster includes a number of next-generation talent that are following in the footsteps of well-known footballing fathers, some of whom have already had an influence on the first team.

In the starting lineup, Thiago Alcantara, whose father, Mazinho, won the World Cup with Brazil in 1994, has left and retired; Stefan Bajcetic’s father, Srdan, played for Celta Vigo; Jimmy Phillips, the father of Nat Phillips, played in the Premier League for both Glasgow Rangers and Bolton Wanderers.

Meanwhile, in their young ranks are Bobby Clark (son of Lee Clark), Jayden Danns (Neil Danns), Lewis Koumas (Jason Koumas), Keyrol Figueroa (Maynor Figueroa), and Prince Kobe Cisse (Djibril Cisse). Beyond only a father and son, Owen Beck is also a great-nephew of Ian Rush.

Many of these young talents have previously made appearances for the first team, and because most of the veteran players aren’t back for preseason training after competing at Copa America or Euro 2024, they will have their chance to make an impression on new head coach Arne Slot this summer.

However, this isn’t limited to Liverpool, where the aforementioned players are given the chance to make the first team this preseason and have famous footballing sons.

For their preseason tour of the United States this summer, Man City has named a travelling group of 27 players. While some established players are involved, the majority of the squad is made up of youth players.

But because his father was a former Liverpool Premier League player, Liverpool fans will recognise one young player who is trying to impress Pep Guardiola.

Guardiola has called up Jaden Heskey, the son of Emile Heskey, who will be hoping to contribute to the City first team this summer.

Last season, the 18-year-old played in 36 games for the U18 Premier League, UEFA Youth League, FA Youth Cup, and Premier League 2, scoring a creditable 11 goals. In the FA Youth Cup final, City defeated Leeds United 4-0, and one of their goals came from this.

Like his father, Heskey Jr. is a striker but can also play as a number 10 or center-midfielder. Because City plays with one player up front most of the time, it is therefore possible that he will find himself starting in place of Haaland in attack at some point during the preseason. Jaden, no pressure then!