The 19-year-old left back, who has been with Liverpool since the age of six, made his first senior appearance earlier this season, coming off the bench in the Carabao Cup win over Leicester.
The Preston-born starlet was then given a first start at Anfield in Thursday’s Europa League rout. Coveted by Bayer Leverkusen over the summer, Chambers, who spent part of last season on loan at Kilmarnock, has been tipped for more game time this year, with Andy Robertson recovering from shoulder surgery.
Speaking to TNT Sports after the game, Chambers said of his first start: “It’s unbelievable. I’ve dreamt of this moment since I was six years old… to top it off with a win is incredible. I’m lost for words really.
When asked when he first knew that he would be included in Jurgen Klopp’s lineup for the visit of Toulouse, he revealed: “Yesterday. We always do the team during training, so I found out yesterday and had a little bit of time with my family at night and then it was a bit of a reality this morning when I woke up. I loved every minute of it.” Klopp praised Chambers in his post-match press conference.
The manager said: “They all deserve it massively. Luke had a long injury. He had a really good year last year in Scotland, [there was] was a lot of interest there in the summer but I didn’t blink for a second and then I thought, ‘Oh come on, let him go.’ Because I really think that in the moment our Under-23s when they are all together, that’s a super-strong side and that’s important as well.
“The session we had yesterday, the minus-one session, a proper minus-one session – in the longer period between Premier League and the Europa League then you have a proper session – you don’t get that somewhere, this quality, and stuff like this. So it’s really important that the boys go through that as well. Pleased for him. I wouldn’t say Luke is in the moment in a top, top, top shape because of the injury and because of another little setback. But we 100 per cent believe in him and trust him, and I wanted to show that tonight.”
Luke Chambers became the latest academy star to earn a full Liverpool debut, starting in the Reds’ 5-1 win over Toulouse on Thursday.
