Liverpool’s Joshua Abe: Turning Down £50k-a-Week Offer

Liverpool didn’t just win a contract negotiation this summer. They won a statement battle over what their future is supposed to look like.

At the centre of it is Joshua Abe, a winger who turns 16 on Friday and has played just once above under-18 level. On paper, he should still be a name tucked away in academy reports. Instead, he’s already at the heart of a tug of war between elite Premier League clubs and a cornerstone of Liverpool’s long-term planning.

A teenager who said no to £50,000 a week

In early June, Liverpool tied Abe down on scholarship terms, with a pre-contract agreement for a three-year professional deal that will kick in on his 17th birthday next year, as reported by The Athletic.

That alone would mark him out as one to watch. The detail that turns it into a major story is what he turned down.

According to Andy Jones of The Athletic, Abe attracted “significant interest” from a host of Premier League clubs. One of them put a professional offer on the table worth up to £50,000 per week. For a player who has barely stepped beyond youth football, that is eye-watering money.

He chose Liverpool anyway.

It’s a remarkable decision in a market where big clubs routinely try to fast-track teenagers with lucrative contracts. Liverpool, instead, have convinced him that the pathway at Kirkby and Anfield is worth more than the immediate paycheque.

A squad number, a tour, and a message

Liverpool haven’t just kept him. They’ve elevated him.

Abe has been handed a first-team squad number for the 2026/27 campaign, another clear sign, as Jones notes, of just how highly he’s rated on Merseyside. That kind of commitment from the club isn’t thrown around lightly, particularly for someone so young.

There’s more. He is set to link up with Andoni Iraola’s first-team squad for their tour of the United States. For a 16-year-old winger, that is a fast track into the senior environment: long flights, big crowds, training with established internationals, and the chance—if he takes it—to catch the eye in front of the manager and staff.

The gap left by senior players on post-World Cup breaks opens a rare window. Abe is one of the youngsters being pushed towards it.

The scale of the offer he rejected

To understand how extraordinary that £50,000-per-week proposal was, you only need one comparison.

Capology lists Wataru Endo, a 33-year-old midfielder with years of experience and the captaincy of Japan on his CV, on the same weekly wage at Liverpool. A seasoned international, trusted in high-pressure Premier League and European fixtures, earning the same as a teenager was being offered before his 17th birthday.

That context underlines the scale of the gamble the unnamed rival club was willing to take—and the scale of the coup Liverpool have pulled off by keeping him.

Abe’s senior experience so far? One appearance above under-18 level, coming off the bench for Rob Page’s under-19 side in the UEFA Youth League against Zilina in February. That’s it. No loan spells, no domestic cups, no late cameos at Anfield.

Yet the market has already moved aggressively around him.

Liverpool’s long game

This is where Liverpool’s approach stands out. They haven’t matched the £50,000-a-week figure. Instead, they’ve sold him something else: trust in the pathway.

Abe is expected to get some exposure to first-team football in pre-season. Those minutes—whether they come in the US or behind closed doors—could accelerate his development far more effectively than a swollen wage packet and a blocked route to the pitch elsewhere.

From there, the plan is simple but demanding: keep growing in the academy, likely step into the under-21 side in the coming months, and prove that this early faith is justified.

At this stage, the temptation is to talk in superlatives. Liverpool, though, know the dangers of crowning a prodigy too early. For all the noise around the contract offers, he remains a teenager at the very start of his journey, still learning the rhythm of academy football, never mind the Premier League.

Yet some signs are hard to ignore. A pre-agreed pro deal. A first-team squad number already earmarked. A place on a senior tour. Rival clubs waving £50,000 a week. All of that for a player with a single outing above under-18 level.

Clubs don’t do that without conviction.

Liverpool have won this round, keeping a prized academy talent out of a rival’s grasp. The real question now is simple: when the next wave of big offers comes—and it will—will Joshua Abe be walking into the Liverpool first team rather than listening to pitches from elsewhere?