Djibril Cissé's son Prince signs first professional contract with Liverpool

Prince Cissé, the 17-year-old son of Liverpool cult hero Djibril Cissé, has signed his first professional contract with the club after spending the majority of his young life in the Reds’ academy system.

The teenager has been at Liverpool since the pre-academy phase and has since transitioned from a forward into a centre-back — a positional shift he attributes, with some humour, to his father’s superior goalscoring instincts. Prince has also earned two caps for the Wales under-18 side.

Speaking previously about his father’s career, Prince said: “I’ve seen the highlights. 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.”

On the physical comparison, he added: “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.”

Djibril Cissé joined Liverpool in 2004 and made 82 appearances over three seasons, scoring 26 goals and winning the Champions League, FA Cup and UEFA Super Cup before departing for Marseille. He went on to earn 41 caps for France, scoring nine international goals between 2002 and 2011.

Prince’s contract signing comes at a time of significant change at Anfield. Mohamed Salah made his final appearance for the club at the end of last season and is set to leave on a free transfer, while Andrew Robertson has departed for Tottenham. Defender Ibrahima Konaté is also expected to complete a move to Real Madrid.