FeatureMeet the Academy: Prince Cisse's dad Djibril, new position and managerial ambitions

"Definitely not!" the 17-year-old is keen to stress during a conversation with Liverpoolfc.com. "That's not me."

The son of the 2005 Champions League winner joined the club's pre-Academy phase at the age of four and has progressed to the stage where he's now an important figure in the U18s.

He was not even born to watch any of Djibril's two-season career at Anfield, which included 24 goals and three major honours.

"I've seen the highlights," Prince says. "It's nice to watch him back, see what he was like. A bit of a crazy player with his mad hairstyles and all that.

"Me playing centre-back now, he was probably a striker that I wouldn't want to play against. He seemed like a good player.

"I had pace but maybe my goalscoring ability probably wasn't as good as his, hence why I've been moved to centre-back. He was lightning-quick but I'd say I'm maybe a bit quicker."

Like his dad, Prince used that speed to produce as a forward-minded player in a Liverpool shirt.

However, a radical changing of position – first as a full-back and then as a central defender – in recent seasons has now fostered a love for stopping attacks.

"It's obviously a bit different going from scoring goals to stopping goals," says the Wales youth international. "I'm enjoying it.

"I'm doing a lot of work with the staff at the Academy on the basics of defending – your footwork and things like that. It's nice, I'm liking it. A clean sheet means everything to me.

"Me being a striker for quite a lot of my career, I think it will help me. When I'm coming up against forwards, I kind of slightly know what they're thinking in that certain moment. I suppose it helps me a little bit.

"I'm a very open person, so I don't mind playing in different positions. Touching on being grounded and being humble, as long as I'm on the pitch and playing, that's the most important thing and just being able to help the team wherever I can."

Cisse signed his scholarship with the Reds in the run-up to the 2024-25 season.

The pride felt by him and his family at that moment was indescribable, and left them all dreaming of many more milestones in the future.

He says: "Short term, I just hope to keep progressing, getting better, keep starting in the U18s and maybe play a couple of U21s games – who knows?

"Then long term, I obviously want to get in the first team. I want to play for Liverpool for the rest of my life really – that's what I want to do."

More from our Meet the Academy series...

• How an Instagram message led to Kyle Kelly representing St. Kitts and Nevis

• The story of Kornel Misciur's hunt for a Jerzy Dudek selfie

• How Tommy Pilling continues to carry on his family's LFC legacy

• The mature, driven and talented Carter Pinnington

Looking even further ahead, he already has in mind a potential plan for a post-playing career.

And no, it's not the profession his dad is now in.

"Not a DJ, definitely not!" Prince finishes. "After I become a footballer – hopefully I have a good career – I definitely want to get into management.

"I play a lot of Football Manager – maybe a bit too much Football Manager!

"Most FMs I play I do Chester FC because that's where I was born. I did one last season with Chester and I got them from the National League to the Prem but I was struggling and just flirting with the bottom three. I think I resigned because I couldn't fix it.

"This season, I'm doing another Chester one. We're still in the National League North, I only started it the other day, but I'm hoping to do what I did better.

"I try to loan Rio [Ngumoha] wherever I am because he's got the best dribbling on the game, I think."