As a Liverpool ball boy, he helped Origi score 'that' goal. Now he is trying to save his career

Oakley Cannonier’s name is etched into Anfield folklore for one split-second decision, yet the 21-year-old striker is adamant that his story is far from finished. Eight years after the 14-year-old ball boy hurled a fresh ball to Trent Alexander-Arnold, allowing Divock Origi to complete Liverpool’s sensational 4-0 comeback against Barcelona, Cannonier is fighting to be recognised for what he does on the pitch rather than what he once did beside it.

The goal, immortalised by the commentary “Corner taken quickly… Origi!”, sent Liverpool to the 2019 Champions League final and turned the teenager into an overnight celebrity. Piers Morgan requested interviews, chief executive Peter Moore wrote a personal letter of thanks, and Cannonier’s school hailed a hero. “I went home and said, ‘You know what, Mum? This might sound a bit weird but I helped Liverpool beat Barcelona tonight’,” he recalls. Within hours social media had confirmed what his mother initially doubted.

Yet the fairytale quickly demanded a sequel. Cannonier, an academy player since childhood, re-focused on scoring goals of his own. A positional switch from No. 10 to No. 9 triggered a 40-goal campaign for the under-18s in 2021-22, invites to train with Jürgen Klopp’s senior squad, and a three-year professional contract at 17. Klopp later greeted him with a grin: “Thank you… for the corner kick!”

Persistent hamstring problems, however, shredded the narrative. Surgery in 2021 began a cycle of rehab and relapse that cost him the FA Youth Cup final and, eventually, his place in the under-21s. Between January 2024 and January 2025 he played only 234 minutes across Liverpool’s youth sides, not through fresh injury but because, fully fit, he was crowded out by younger, bigger centre-forwards. “People haven’t seen me play for two years,” he says. “If I had been playing regular games in PL2, I would be scoring goals.”

At 5 ft 9 in, Cannonier accepts modern academies covet powerful target men. A trial with Leeds United last year brought two assists in two games, yet the club’s pursuit of a senior striker cooled negotiations and he returned to Merseyside. “Clubs are definitely looking for a big No. 9,” he notes. “You don’t see many smaller strikers like Suárez, Tevez or Agüero any more.”

Contracted only until June, Cannonier will leave Liverpool this summer determined to reignite a career stalled between age brackets. “I just want to be playing and scoring goals, showing everyone how good I am,” he insists, rejecting any frustration that the Barcelona assist still defines him. “It’s something to be proud of, but I want to become known for being a legend for different reasons.”

Family keeps the dream anchored. Brother Harley, 15, remains at the academy and recently paraded the Carabao Cup at Anfield; younger brother Barkley has swapped football for rugby. Oakley, meanwhile, stretches morning and night to keep his hamstrings quiet, studies Layton Stewart’s resurgence at AFC Wimbledon, and waits for a club willing to gamble on a natural finisher whose sharpest move once changed Liverpool’s history.

The ball boy who helped shock Barcelona now needs only a pitch, a shirt and the next whistle to start the comeback of his own career.