Defender goes back to school
Academy starlet Emmanuel Mendy delighted youngsters at St Silas Primary School in Toxteth when he took part in a Spanish lesson as part of the Liverpool FC Equality 4 All Project.
The right-back, although born in Senegal, is a Spanish national and joined Liverpool from Murcia Deportivo from Spain in 2008.
He took part in the lesson with the children and revealed he speaks five languages – including Spanish, English and French.
Around 30 children from year four, ages eight and nine, took part in the lesson under the supervision of their class teacher Miss Hariman and Spanish tutor Mrs Elba Aranda.
Mendy also took part in a special Q and A session in Spanish when he revealed his favourite right-back is England international Glen Johnson.
He also signed autographs for every child and posed for some photographs.
The defender told Liverpoolfc.tv: "It was fantastic to come down to the school and see the children speaking in Spanish.
"I was very impressed with them and it is always nice to meet the young Liverpool fans.
"It's good to see the work that the Liverpool coaches do behind the scenes and they do fantastic work for the community."
Liverpool FC Social Inclusion Officer, Rishi Jain, said: "Through the Equality 4 All Project we deliver around 16 hours coaching a week with kids from different areas and ethnic minorities and bring them all together through football.
"It was great to have Mendy come down and take part in the Spanish lesson.
"The kids at St Silas are really talented and the school is a real credit to the community.
"We are out coaching every night of the week throughout Liverpool and we are really pleased with the way the Equality 4 All project has been received, and we are now looking to put in place our summer programme for the project."
Mrs Elba Aranda, the Spanish tutor at St Silas, added: "The children are very enthusiastic and they love learning languages.
"They participate really well and I feel very grateful as a teacher for the enthusiasm they give to the lessons.
"We do a half hour Spanish lesson every week and we always use different topics which the children love.
"Mendy was a credit to Liverpool FC. He gave the children the opportunity to use their Spanish skills and interact with him, and I think it was very rewarding for them."