With so many new young players coming in this season, it is only natural for some of the slightly older members of the Liverpool squad to be given the opportunity to move to another side on a one year loan.

As Adam Hammill proved last year, it can be a career defining move which can prove whether a player can hack it in the Premiership. Hammill himself could be on the way to another year on loan somewhere else but this time there are clubs with loftier ambitions than Dunfermline who are looking at him.

There were also a number of clubs looking at Paul Anderson. Blackpool are believed to have enquired about the possibility of taking him for one year but eventually it was Roberto Martinez with his Spanish ties that got Liverpool’s approval to take the winger.

Martinez has been quick to praise the new addition, describing him as “young, has fantastic ability and able to play on either wing, although he is more right-sided because he is right-footed.”

“He will give us an extra dimension because he has the ability to go on the outside. He is an excellent crosser, sees the game well and has great quality on the ball. We have said all along that we needed a bit of pace out wide and hopefully Paul Anderson is going to provide us with that.”

Praise indeed by the Spanish manager, but his words aren’t misplaced. Signed by Liverpool from Hull for a fee that could eventually rise to £1.5 million, he was the star of the side that won the FA Youth Cup against Manchester City two years ago. Last season was more subdued, due largely to an injury that kept him out for several months but there are few at Anfield who doubt his ability.

At this stage of his career, however, spending the next twelve months training and playing occasionally for the reserves was hardly going to do him any good so a loan move was always likely. Swansea is a better destination than most. The club is hugely ambitious, there’s a good squad already in placed and he’ll get to play in front of passionate fans. And that’s without mentioning that he’ll get to learn a thing or two about Scouse culture from Lee Trundle.

It will also offer him his first opportunity to play real football on a regular basis and determine whether he can reproduce his form in the reserves at a higher level something that, ultimately, will determine his future at Anfield.

For all the high regard with which he is held by the Liverpool coaching staff, there are some doubts that he is somewhat too slight. If Anderson shows that he can handle the physical challenge of playing at this level, he’ll be proving that he could also make the step up to the Premiership.