Just like the rest of us, before many footballers became professionals, they were merely fans.
They may not show their allegiances these days, but rest assured, every single player in the Premier League will have grown up supporting and loving one club.
Of course, your career can take you on different paths and club fandom often subsides, but deep down, players will always have a soft spot for their favourite clubs.
With that in mind, we’re going to take a look at five active players who openly support or have supported Liverpool.
Adebayo Akinfenwa
Adebayo Akinfenwa is one of the biggest names, and the biggest players in the EFL, but he’s been on Premier League punditry duty in the past when Liverpool have played.
The Wycombe striker is a big personality, and he’s made no secret of how much he adores the Reds.
He’s featured on Sky Sports’ fan zone as a Liverpool fan, and he often tweets about the Anfield outfit when they’re playing.
Akinfenwa has actually scored against Liverpool in the FA Cup in the past, but after the game, he begged Steven Gerrard to stay at the club as he planned his departure to LA Galaxy.
Luckily for Akinfenwa, his club allegiances haven’t affected his career too much as he’s rarely had to come up against Liverpool.
Kevin De Bruyne
Unlike Akinfenwa, Kevin De Bruyne’s support for Liverpool will have been massively affected by his career.
The Belgian admitted once upon a time that he and his family all supported Liverpool.
“My family was Liverpool supporters, so I was also Liverpool. I was a small, quicker striker when I was really young,” De Bruyne said.
Since then though, the Reds have been a constant thorn in De Bruyne and Manchester City’s side, so we can’t imagine he harbours much love for the Reds these days.
Conor Coady
This is quite an obvious one. Conor Coady may be the captain of Wolves, but he’s very open about his Liverpool allegiances.
“For me personally, it’s very special having come through at Liverpool. I still follow their results and watch their games when I can,” Coady said ahead of Wolves’ game against the Reds in 2018.
The centre-half, sadly, didn’t make it at Anfield after coming through the academy, but he’s carved out a more than respectable career for himself since – becoming a star at Wolves and even earning himself call-ups for England.
Dele Alli
Dele Alli may play for Everton these days, but in his youth, he supported Liverpool.
Alli was very open about supporting the Reds back in 2015, stating that he became a fan because of Steven Gerrard.
“I remember Istanbul, the FA Cup final, and the game against Olympiakos: Gerrard just scoring amazing goals. Gerrard was a big influence on why I supported Liverpool,” Alli said.
At one point, it looked as though Alli would be Steven Gerrard’s successor for England, but as of late, his career has somewhat gone off the rails.
Alli may now get relegated with Everton, and we’re sure that Liverpool fans may well make a few jokes about Alli being a Kopite if he plays a part in the Toffees’ demise.
Adrien Rabiot
Adrien Rabiot has starred for PSG, France and Juventus in recent years, but his heart truly lies with Liverpool.
The midfielder has constantly been linked with a move to England, and it seems as though a move to Anfield would be the dream for the France international.
“I would love to play in the Premier League. There’s not necessarily any club in particular, even though when I was young I was a big Liverpool fan,” Rabiot said in 2017.
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