EXCLUSIVE
By Liam Twomey

Liverpool are monitoring the progress of Wolves starlet Liam McAlinden, Goal.com has learned.

Championship high-fliers Crystal Palace and Leeds United are also understood to be tracking the 19-year-old striker, who has netted seven goals in 11 Under-21 Premier League matches this season.

McAlinden, who joined Wolves’ youth ranks at the age of eight, remains highly rated by the club but has yet to commit to an extension of his current contract, which expires next summer.

Any attempts to sign McAlinden as a free agent at the end of the season, however, could be scuppered by the fact that Wolves would still be entitled to compensation as the player is under 24 years of age, unless they were to decide to release his registration.

As such, the Northern Ireland Under-21 international could well find himself the subject of more immediate offers when the transfer window opens in January.

Liverpool’s lack of striking options in the wake of loaning Andy Carroll to West Ham have been well documented, but it is unlikely that McAlinden would feature in their first-team plans this season.

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