Reds win race for wonderkid

LIVERPOOL are on the verge of wrapping up a £1.7million deal to land Charlton Athletic wonderkid Jonjo Shelvey.

The attacking midfielder was a target for both Chelsea and Arsenal but he has decided his career will be best suited by a move to Anfield.

Shelvey entered the history books at The Valley as became Charlton's youngest ever player and their youngest ever goalscorer, both feats achieved before his 17th birthday.

He captained England's under-16s to success in the Victory Shield in 2007 and has gone on to be capped seven times by England's Under-17 side.

Liverpool have been determined to invest in youth - a point proven by the addition of Raheem Sterling from QPR earlier this year - and Shelvey certainly fits the bill.

A scorer of seven goals in 42 appearances for the Addicks, Shelvey is set to undergo a medical at Melwood and, once everything goes through, he will join the Reds at the end of May.

Though Sterling went straight to Liverpool's Academy, Shelvey - as he will be 18 next February - will be thrust into the reserve set up when he makes the move north.

Meanwhile, Reds boss Rafa Benitez today sang the praises of another Liverpool young gun as he hailed Daniel Ayala's assured return to action at Burnley on Sunday.

Though the 19-year-old experienced a couple of anxious moments in the first half at Turf Moor, he became a more assured figure after the break with Jamie Carragher guiding him along.

Ayala has been a regular in John McMahon's reserve team but Benitez was anxious to give the Spaniard another run out after three appearances earlier in the campaign.

"Daniel has been really good for the reserves through the whole season and now he has had his opportunity in the first team," said Benitez.

"He is good in the air, he is focused all the time and he has the potential to be a great defender.

"We are really pleased with the progress he has made. Steven Fletcher is a good player and you could see that he had targeted Daniel and he tried to challenge him.

"But he got on with it and you could see that in the second half Daniel's game improved."

Benitez's thoughts are now geared towards tomorrow's Europa League second leg against Atletico Madrid and he will urge his side to take heart from their efforts at Burnley.

"It always important to get goals but we got four and a clean sheet away from home," he said. "That is not easy - it was pleasing to see other players and Steven scoring. It is good news..

"It will be the same idea against Madrid. If they score, we will just carry on."

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.