Kenny Dalglish: Everton Midfielder Jack Rodwell Is The Best Young Player From Liverpool

Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish has revealed that he thinks Everton's Jack Rodwell is the best player to emerge on Merseyside in recent seasons.

The Scot feels that developing local talent has become increasingly difficult over the last few years, making his work at the Anfield academy less than easy.

"Since Wayne Rooney there's been one, I think, boy who you could say that was Liverpool born and bred who's gone on to be a consistent performer in the first team, and that's Jack Rodwell," Dalglish told Sky Sports News.

"And he comes from Southport.

"So it's not like the [Liverpool] academy has missed anybody that's gone on to be a fantastic success.

"You can't get a game for Liverpool's first team because of your birthplace. You can only get it by your quality.

"But if there is someone who's born and bred in Liverpool then it's fantastic for everybody. It's great for the club. It's great for the community. It's great for the lad.

"So that's what everybody would love to achieve and love to see happen."

The former Scotland international is nevertheless very happy in his work with Liverpool and has no intentions of returning to frontline management any time soon.

"I'm really happy with what I'm doing at the moment, really happy with life and getting on with life. For me it's a great honour to be back helping with the development of the kids at Liverpool Football Club," he added.

"I think there's a good strong bond between the staff and that translates onto the players. For me you need to look forward to coming into your work in a morning, so I'm perfectly happy with what I'm doing."

Zack Wilson, Goal.com UK