Mia Enderby: Liverpool's Lauren Hemp-like teen on track to fulfil her dream of playing for the Lionesses

Despite no one really influencing the passion, from the moment Enderby could walk, she wanted to play football. That love took her into a local boys’ team in her early childhood before she successfully trialled for Leeds United’s regional talent centre at Under-12s level.

Her breakthrough in the senior game, however, came a little further south with Sheffield United, in the FA Women’s Championship. The Blades have long been fantastic at developing and trusting in young talent, and Enderby benefited from that when she debuted for the club aged 16, having joined from Leeds. A year later - with another prodigious teenage winger, Lucy Watson, having been snapped up by Chelsea – she became a regular starter and a key player, scoring seven goals for a team that finished eighth in a league of 12.

Unsurprisingly, plenty of WSL clubs showed interest in Enderby and, last summer, Liverpool won the race to sign her. Manager Matt Beard has an excellent track record of trusting in young players and his plans for the 18-year-old’s development won her over instantly.

“When I first spoke to Beardy, I had a meeting with him and Russ [Fraser, managing director], he went through a whole PowerPoint of me. After the meeting I said to my mum and my agent straight away, 'I want to come here',” Enderby tells GOAL. “I feel like everything he said, how confident he was about me, after that, I just wanted to come here.”

It was a big step. It would be the teenager’s first move away from her home in Bradford, her first experience at a professional, full-time team and a jump up to one of the best leagues in the world. However, she’s adapted brilliantly.

“To be honest, when I first came here, I wasn't expecting minutes at all,” Enderby admits now. “I am grateful for the minutes that I am getting and I'm just trying to keep working hard in games, in training, to hopefully start every game. That's my aim. I'm really grateful for [Beard] to put his trust in me and give me the confidence that I can play a lot more minutes.”

Enderby has certainly set about repaying that faith put in her. After a bit of bad luck with injuries in the first half of the season, she had a brilliant and consistent run at the end of the campaign in particular.

She’s not shied away from the big moments either. Her goal against Man City in the Conti Cup was a moment in which she really announced herself to a wider audience, while her starring role in Liverpool’s shock win over Chelsea really showcased her potential and growth all at once.

Enderby has also been a key player for England’s youth teams this season, helping to secure qualification for a UEFA U19 Women’s Championship that she’ll hope to thrive in later this summer.

When GOAL asks Beard what stood out when he first watched Enderby, he doesn’t hesitate to reel off so many of her best attributes. “She’s direct, can beat players, can score goals, can score all types of goals,” he replies immediately. The 18-year-old’s raw pace is certainly another big asset that helps make her a real threat to any defence, with Beard noting that Millie Bright and Jess Carter, two of England’s best defenders, were “terrified” of it when Liverpool faced Chelsea earlier this month.

As Enderby’s first season at the highest level ends, you can see where she has already made big strides with this experience, too. That’s certainly true of the physical side, with the player herself even believing she’s got faster in the past year, while the tactical element is another she’s developed well in.

“With any player, when you've not played professionally, it takes a little bit of time to cope with the demands of the tactical element,” Beard explains. “We have a set way of playing, but there's always weaknesses that we want to exploit so we will alter things throughout the week. We may have more than one way of playing, more than one system, so there's a lot of information that you need to take on throughout the week. She's adjusted to that really, really well. I think the great thing for me is you can see the understanding.”

But perhaps above all is Enderby’s attitude to work hard. She can still get frustrated at times on the pitch, and “be her own worst enemy” Beard notes, but to talk to the teenager is to understand that she has a drive and a desire to do the hard yards to reach the very top. “Literally ever since I could walk, I've always wanted to play football,” she says. “It was my dream to play in the WSL and represent my country at the senior level. I feel like I'm a step closer. I've just got to keep working hard so I can get there.”

It feels like Enderby just needs to keep refining and developing her game from this point, rather than addressing any glaring weaknesses in it. As a young forward, her decision-making still needs some work, but she’s already made good progress there this season. The same can be said of the physical and tactical elements, as well as that tendency to get frustrated from time to time. It’ll all come with experience and she’s in a great place to gain that. Beard isn’t afraid to trust in young players and the impact he has had on Enderby already is telling, with her describing him as a father figure.

“She's an amazing talent and she's only going to get better, but she will be so much wiser for this year,” Beard notes. “I think the first part about leaving home and then overcoming that, standing on her own two feet. On top of that, she's playing at the top level week in, week out. Internationally, she's done really, really well for England U19s. Once this season's out of the way for her, she's going to be a lot stronger, a lot better, a lot wiser when we come into the campaign next year.

“The great thing is that she's a winner. She wants to win, she wants to succeed, she wants everything to be perfect, but that's not life, is it? I think once she can manage when things don't go exactly how she wants, if she doesn't hit the target, it goes wide or whatever, and she just resets, gets on with the next one, then she's going to be unplayable.”

The obvious comparison that stands out for Enderby is Lauren Hemp, because of that absolutely electric pace. There are not too many with such raw lightning speed, but Hemp is one and Enderby is certainly another.

To that, the 18-year-old has previously described the England and Man City star as an idol of hers and someone she watched a lot when she was younger. Their abilities to be a threat both on the wing in a creative sense and once they get into the box looking for goal-scoring opportunities is comparative, too, and gives defenders a real headache.

For Enderby, it is simply now about continuing on this trajectory. It’s about securing more game time in her second season at the highest level with Liverpool and to keep progressing through the England pathway, with the U19 Euros coming later this summer.

“I feel the next steps are just continuing to work hard, putting everything in training, doing the best that I can when I'm playing,” she believes. “If you're not big-headed or anything and you really want to get there, to your dream, then I feel like you've just got to be you, don't listen to anyone else, just be confident.”

She’s not over-awed by where her progress is taking her, either. Enderby has faced up to huge England names like Houghton and Bright this past season, but she knows that is because she’s earned the right to do so.

“Coming up against the players I used to watch when I was younger, it's an amazing feeling,” she says. “But then I guess we're all in the same boat. We're all playing in the WSL and I can't fear anyone. That's not going to help me in the future. I feel like it doesn't matter who you are or how old you are, if you're good enough, then you're good enough to come up against those players.”

Enderby has certainly proved that in her senior career so far - and you’d be brave to bet against her continuing to do so as she works towards that dream of becoming a Lioness.