“It’s been pretty crap. I train, I wait, but there’s no reward. My age is passing me by and I’m viewed as a ghost at the club” – Shocking revelations as Liverpool’s former “Barca hero” striker discloses he is leaving the club this summer. He admits the lack of game time has nearly destroyed his confidence after once being tipped for the very top.

The fairy tale always seemed too perfect to last. A local boy, a ball boy, suddenly thrust into Liverpool folklore at the age of 14 for his role in the most miraculous night in the club’s modern history. A prolific goalscorer at youth level, tipped for the very top, training with first-team stars under Jurgen Klopp.

But football, as it so often does, has written a crueller script for Oakley Cannonier. In devastatingly honest revelations, the 21-year-old striker has laid bare the reality of his Liverpool career—a story of shattered confidence, vanishing game time, and an impending summer exit from the club where he once dreamed of leading the line.

**”It’s been pretty crap. I train, I wait, but there’s no reward. My age is passing me by and I’m viewed as a ghost at the club.”**

Those words, reported in a detailed profile by The Athletic and now circulating across Liverpool fan forums, capture the human cost of football’s brutal progression system . Cannonier admits that the lack of game time has “nearly destroyed his confidence”—a devastating admission from a player once regarded as one of the brightest prospects in Liverpool’s academy .

## From Ball Boy to Barcelona Hero: The Moment That Defined Everything

To understand Cannonier’s story, one must return to May 7, 2019. Liverpool, trailing 3-0 from the first leg, faced Barcelona at Anfield in a Champions League semi-final that required nothing short of a miracle. With the score at 3-0 on the night, Divock Origi had already scored, and the impossible was flickering into view .

Then came the moment that would change a 14-year-old’s life forever.

Trent Alexander-Arnold, spotting an opportunity, shaped to take a corner. A Barcelona defender turned his back. Alexander-Arnold sprinted to the ball—and young Oakley Cannonier, the ball boy stationed behind the goal, reacted instantly. He threw the ball quickly, precisely, enabling the rapid corner that found Origi unmarked. The goal that followed completed a 4-0 victory and one of the greatest comebacks in football history .

**”That night changed his life – he became a hero in school, was interviewed by Piers Morgan, and received a personal letter of thanks from then-CEO Peter Moore”** .

For a 14-year-old, the attention was overwhelming. But it also created a narrative that would come to define him—the “ball boy hero”—even as his own playing career developed.

## The Prolific Years: A Goalscorer’s Promise

In the seasons that followed, Cannonier began to forge his own identity as a footballer. The 2021-22 season was nothing short of spectacular: he scored **over 40 goals at under-18 level**, a tally that demanded attention from the club’s hierarchy . He earned training sessions with the first team under Jurgen Klopp, sessions where he could measure himself against the world-class strikers he hoped to one-day replace.

The trajectory seemed clear. A local lad, already beloved for his ball boy moment, now delivering on the pitch. The Kop, one day, would sing his name.

But football’s path is rarely linear.

## The Injury Nightmare: Hamstring Hell Derails Everything

Between 2020 and 2024, persistent hamstring injuries repeatedly derailed Cannonier’s progress. Each time he built momentum, each time he felt ready to push on, the injuries returned—a cruel cycle that tested his resolve to its limits .

**”I spoke to my mum a few times and was having conversations about why it was happening to me,”** he told The Athletic. **”I just couldn’t get fit. I was thinking, ‘What’s the point?'”** .

The psychological toll of repeated setbacks is often underestimated by those who view football through statistics alone. For a young player watching his peers advance while he remains trapped in rehabilitation, the frustration is existential.

Surgery followed. Months of recovery. And when he finally returned to fitness, the landscape had shifted irrevocably.

## The Lost Years: 234 Minutes in 18 Months

The numbers that define Cannonier’s recent career are stark. In the last 18 months, he has played just **234 minutes for Liverpool’s youth teams**, his last appearance coming in January 2025 .

**”You train all week and then there is nothing at the end of it,”** he admitted. **”It’s been pretty crap”** .

This is the reality that prompted his devastating self-assessment. A player cannot develop without matches. Confidence cannot grow without the reinforcement of performance. And a “ghost at the club”—his own words—is precisely what he has become .

Meanwhile, younger strikers have overtaken him in the pecking order. The conveyor belt of academy talent never stops, and those who stall for any reason are quickly passed by.

## The Contract Situation: A Summer Exit Looms

With his Liverpool contract expiring this summer, Cannonier has made the agonising decision to move on. There will be no new deal, no breakthrough into the first team, no Anfield debut as a homegrown hero .

**”I will leave at the end of the season and am just looking for regular games. With my age, that is all I want to be doing,”** he confirmed .

At 21, he is no longer a teenager with time on his side. The next move must provide the senior football that Liverpool could not offer. A restart, a rebuild, a chance to prove that the prolific teenager still exists beneath the layers of frustration and lost time.

## The Slot Factor: A Broader Concern?

Cannonier’s departure cannot be separated from growing concerns about Arne Slot’s approach to youth development. The BBC recently published fan views questioning whether the Dutch manager trusts young players, with one supporter noting: **”Ngumoha is just one of many Liverpool youth that lack opportunities of game time. Last summer Liverpool sold many young players with potential… Slot never played them and now complains Liverpool don’t have a squad because they’re all young and inexperienced”** .

Another fan was more direct: **”Slot doesn’t like youth players”** .

The statistics support this perception. Harvey Elliott, Ben Doak, Jarell Quansah, Caoimhin Kelleher, Tyler Morton—all departed last summer after failing to secure regular minutes under Slot . The pathway from academy to first team, so carefully cultivated under Klopp, appears to have narrowed significantly.

Lewis Steele, speaking to Anfield Index, offered context on the club’s caution with young players: **”He only trains two times per week because they look at the likes of Stefan Bajcetic, Jayden Danns and Kaide Gordon who have all struggled for fitness after breaking through”** . The sports science department is prioritising long-term physical development over short-term availability—a policy that protects assets but frustrates fans desperate for attacking spark.

## The “Barca Hero” Legacy: A Double-Edged Sword

Cannonier’s ball boy moment has followed him throughout his career. While he remains proud of his role in that historic night, it has also become a narrative that overshadows his own playing journey .

**”I will leave at the end of the season and am just looking for regular games,”** he said. **”With my age, that is all I want to be doing”** .

The search for regular football will define his summer. A player with his youth scoring record, his resilience through injury, and his determination to rebuild should attract interest from clubs across the Football League and beyond.

He hopes to finally step out of the shadow of that famous corner and build a career defined by his own goals, not one assist from the sideline .

## What Comes Next: A Career to Be Rebuilt

For Cannonier, the immediate future is uncertain but not hopeless. He retains the natural finishing ability that produced 40+ goals in a single youth season . He has the mentality to fight through adversity, proven by his repeated attempts to overcome career-threatening injuries.

What he needs now is opportunity. A club willing to invest in a player whose development was interrupted but whose potential remains. A manager who sees the striker beneath the “ghost.”

The Liverpool chapter is closing, and it is closing with pain. **”It’s been pretty crap”** is not the epitaph any player dreams of writing. But it is honest, raw, and real—a reminder that for every Trent Alexander-Arnold who makes the journey from academy to legend, there are dozens like Oakley Cannonier whose paths diverge.

## The Verdict: A Ghost No More

**”My age is passing me by and I’m viewed as a ghost at the club.”**

Those words will linger long after Cannonier’s departure is formalised. They speak to the brutal reality of elite football—a world where injuries can derail careers, where youth prospects are commodities to be managed, and where the dream can fade even for those who once touched immortality.

But Cannonier’s story is not over. It is merely entering a new chapter. Away from Liverpool, away from the shadow of that Barcelona night, he has the chance to become something else entirely: not a ghost, but a goalscorer. Not a memory, but a player.

The “Barca hero” will leave Anfield this summer. The footballer, finally, hopes to be reborn.