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When Anoni Iraola named his 31-man squad for Liverpool's pre-season tour of the United States, Amara Nallo's name was notably by its absence. A few days on, it has become apparent why. As has been widely reported on Thursday morning, the 19 year old has joined HJK Helsinki on loan.
It was spotted that he had been included in HJK's squad for their UEFA Conference League qualifier against Coleraine, which had to be submitted late on Wednesday night. The first leg takes place at Töölön jalkapallostadion on Thursday evening, before the two sides meet again at The Showgrounds in Northern Ireland a week later. The winners will face either Motherwell from Scotland or Faroese side Havnar Bóltfelag in the third qualifying round.
So, what should Nallo expect from this move to Finland, and why should Liverpool fans care about his progress.
How highly rated is Amara Nallo?
The centre-back, born and raised in London, joined Liverpool from West Ham United at the age of just 16 three summers ago. Since then, he has been a regular at youth level, so much so that he was named the under-21 team's captain by Rob Page last season. He has racked up 43 appearances in Premier League 2, as well as featuring five times in the EFL Trophy and in eight UEFA Youth League matches, scoring the winner against Bologna in Kirkby two seasons ago. However, he has found the step-up to first team level a challenging one.
On his senior debut in January 2025, coming in a dead rubber Champions League clash with PSV Eindhoven, Nallo was sent off for a last man challenge on Johan Bakayoko. It can happen. What is unusual is that, in his second senior appearance, he was dismissed again. This came against Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup in October, as Arne Slot heavily rotated amid a poor run of form, with Nallo shown another red card for an eerily similar last man foul, this time on Justin Devenny.
Luckily, he did come off the bench during the 6-0 demolition of Qarabağ in January, managing to avoid a red card during his 15 minutes on the pitch, which will have been a relief. All joking aside, Nallo is extremely highly-rated by those who know youth football, and centre-back is the hardest position on the pitch to break through, so first team expirence will be invaluable.
Fan reaction to Amara Nallo's move to HJK
As noted by James Pearce of the Athletic, Liverpool believe that playing senior football on a regular basis "will boost Nallo’s development after a difficult introduction to first-team action". Meantime, LFC Transfer Room agree, stating that this move will be a "good experience for him".
What Amara Nallo should expect at HJK
HJK are Finland's most successful club, by some distance. They are 33-times Veikkausliiga champions; for comparison, FC Haka and HPS have boast second-most titles on nine, and the latter have not won the title since 1957. HJK, on the other hand, have been champions on 12 occasions since 2009, winning four in a row to start the 2020s, albeit KuPS have won the last two Finnish leagues, with HJK actually ended up all the way down in fifth in 2025.
They only salvaged European qualification by winning the Suomen Cup last September. The Helsinki-based side have featured in a UEFA group stage or league phase in four of the last five seasons, but will have to win three qualifiers to get there again in the Conference League. Domestically, the Veikkausliiga is a summer league, with the season set to conclude in November due to cold weather. Thus, if Nallo does impress, he can return to Liverpool and perhaps go out on loan again in January to a higher level.
According to Global Football Rankings, Finland's top division is the 67th strongest league in the world, one place below EFL League Two, so this should be a gentle introduction to first team football.
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This article was originally published on rushthekop.com as Liverpool U21 captain Amara Nallo closing in on surprise European loan move.
