Liverpool sign 14-year-old for £800,000 after Yaya Toure 'recommendation'

Liverpool have signed 14-year-old centre-back Harvey Owen after some praising words from Manchester City legend Yaya Toure.

Owen will join the Reds' academy in a deal worth a reported £800,000, signing from fellow Premier League side Wolves.

The right-footed defender is the latest addition to Jurgen Klopp's side, having already completed the signings of midfield duo Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai for a combined fee of of £95m.

A fee for Owen was originally agreed between both clubs in May, according to the Daily Mail, but the deal has now been confirmed by the player.

The report adds that £800,000 fee is higher than what would have been agreed by a tribunal, but the Merseyside club were willing to splash the cash in order to beat off any potential competition for his signature.

Speaking for the first time as a Liverpool player, Owen said in a post on Instagram: "Very happy to sign for Liverpool, can't wait to get started," the teenager posted.

"Thank you to everybody who has helped me to get where I am today and just wanna say big thank you to Wolves who have supported me throughout my career."

But Klopp isn't the only admirer of the young defender, with three-time Premier League winner Toure also taken aback by the Englishman.

What did Toure say about Owen?

According to Wolves' under 15/16 coach Wes Hughes, Toure, who was working as head coach of Tottenham's under 16 setup at the time, went over to Owen after a game to pass on his praise.

“We recently played at Tottenham and he had a nice pat on the back from an ex-player in Yaya Toure," Hughes told Wolves' club website last year.

"He personally went up to Harvey and said that he had a lot of potential and would be a really good player in the future, so I think he’ll be really proud of that.”