Training rhythms mean Jurgen Klopp is unlikely to make it to the FA Youth Cup final, but Germany will be strongly represented nonetheless.
For Paul Glatzel, captain of Liverpool’s under-18 side, this is the biggest night of his career. A showpiece occasion, in front of a capacity crowd, with silverware on the line. Throw in the fact that it’s Manchester City who stand in the way, and that the game will be played on their home turf, and you have the makings of a very special evening indeed.
“Everyone is buzzing,” says the 18-year-old, who in February signed his first professional contract with Liverpool. “It’s a big tournament, one you look at and want to be part of.
“If we were to win it, it would be unbelievable.”
Glatzel, like many within Barry Lewtas’ side, has been at Liverpool since the age of six – ‘pre-Academy’, they call it here.
As the surname suggests, however, there’s a little more to his story than most.
His parents, Peter and Julia, are from the city of Bochum, in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany. They came to England looking for work, and initially planned to stay for just a year. The arrival of Paul – pronounced ‘Powell’ – in 2001 meant they made it a permanent home. Paul was born in Liverpool, the family have settled in Parbold, near Wigan, since.
“It’s just me and my parents in England,” says Glatzel. “Everybody else is in Germany so I go back quite a lot to see family. Germany is quite a big part of our family, and I will have a few people over to watch on Thursday. They’re looking forward to it.”
Glatzel, a strong, left-footed forward with the ability to both create and score goals, has represented England as a schoolboy and more recently Germany at under-18 level, but smiles when asked if he has made a decision on where his senior international future may lie.
“I’ll just focus on club football and see where that takes me first,” he says. “And if I have a decision to make in the future I’ll have to make it then.”
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If he continues to play as he has this season, you suspect, then that decision will need to be made sooner rather than later. Glatzel’s form has been remarkable, with 28 goals for Liverpool’s under-18, under-19 and under-23 sides. He’s already trained at Melwood with Klopp’s senior squad, and on Thursday could lift the most prestigious trophy in English youth football.
“It’s been everything to me, really,” he says, unable to contain a smile. “In pre-season I was thinking to myself that I just need to keep fit and play as many games as I can. That was my aim.
“To then play games, captain the team and score goals and assist goals and help the team as much as I have, it's a great feeling. But it is all about the team.”
Glatzel’s story is made all the more impressive by the two years which preceded this one, when his entire career was threatened by injury.
“It was tough,” he says. “I had a hamstring injury at under-16s which went from January to the end of the season.
“Then I was on my way back and then broke my leg, which then put me out for the start of the next season, my first year as a scholar.
“Then I had niggles throughout that season, so I didn't play as much under Steven [Gerrard] as I would have liked, which was obviously tough because he's a legend and a role model.
“To not be able to play under him as much as I would have liked was quite tough mentally. But I seem to have come through it quite well, and I think it has shaped me into the player I am.
“Mentally it has helped a lot to know you can overcome those things.”
Glatzel admits there were times when he wondered if his luck was out, but speak to anyone at Liverpool’s Academy – or indeed Gerrard – and they will tell you the faith in his talent and character was always absolute. Lewtas is among his biggest fans, while under-23s coach Neil Critchley has spoken of his “rock solid” mentality.
“The support I had from the staff was great,” Glatzel says. “They were basically telling me that they know what I’m capable of and they know that, when I get back from injury, they believe that I will be able to get back to the same ability that I was before.
“They just told me to focus on my rehab, to get stronger and use it as an advantage in the gym, to be able to come back bigger and stronger.”
He’s done just that. Lewtas had no hesitation making him captain when taking over from Gerrard last summer, and his faith has been rewarded. Glatzel’s partnership with Bobby Duncan, which has yielded 59 goals so far, has been the feature of the season, as far as the under-18s are concerned.
“We both like to score goals but at the end of the day it’s all about the team,” he says. “We both see that, so there is no rivalry.
“We work for the team, all the players work for the team, and it doesn’t matter who scores as long as we are creating chances and winning games.”
He laughs when asked to compare himself to the more extrovert Duncan: “I think I’m a bit more reserved! He likes his social media and all that, but he’s a good lad. We all like him here, we’re mates as well.”
As for Thursday, Glatzel knows a tough test lies in wait. Liverpool beat City when the sides met in the league in October – Duncan scored – but the rivalry between the two teams is fierce, even at this age.
“I think what’s happening with the first-teams gives it an extra edge,” he says. “They are fighting for titles, and we want to be emulate what they are doing. It gives us that push to win titles as well.
“We will be prepared, we will be ready. We want this.”