Dundee United manager Jim Goodwin has publicly expressed his interest in bringing Liverpool midfielder Luca Stephenson back to the club for the upcoming season. Stephenson, who spent the 2024/25 campaign on loan at Dundee United, garnered significant acclaim, earning the club’s Young Player of the Season award.
Stephenson’s impactful season included 34 appearances for a Dundee United side that secured a fourth-place finish in the league, qualifying for the UEFA Conference League qualifiers. His performances have reportedly led to discussions about a new contract at Liverpool, his parent club.
Speaking to the Courier, Jim Goodwin confirmed his desire to re-sign the player, stating, “I’d love to bring Luca back, but he’s under contract at Liverpool, so we’ll just need to wait and see what happens with that.”
Goodwin also highlighted his “good relationship” with Matt Newberry, Liverpool’s director of global football and former director of loan pathways, hoping this connection will facilitate future loan agreements. He added, “They’ve got a fantastic academy down there, as you’d imagine, so we’ll try and tap into that again in the summer.” He indicated that he has already identified “a couple of really good ones” but noted the challenge of bringing them to Scotland. Goodwin emphasized, “It’s a relationship that we’ll continue to try and work on. They’re a great club to deal with.”
While Dundee United may also consider other Liverpool youngsters for loan, such as Calum Scanlon or Trent Kone-Doherty, the primary focus remains on securing Stephenson’s return. The 21-year-old has one year remaining on his contract with Liverpool and is expected to discuss his future with the club in the coming weeks.
In an interview with DUTV before the end of the season, Stephenson himself indicated an openness to a permanent move to Tannadice Park.6 He revealed, “I’ve held a couple of talks with the club here. I will be going back down the road in the next week or so and no doubt there will be words spoken down there.” He further explained his contract situation: “I’m into the last year of my deal next season, so there will have to be some conversation about whether it’s staying at Liverpool for a new deal or whether it’s going elsewhere.” He concluded, “Obviously I have no idea at the minute where that’ll be, whether it could be back here, whether it could be somewhere else. The year I’ve had here, if I can replicate that again, I don’t see any reason why I wouldn’t want to play my football back up here.”
