Tyler Morton is a defensive central midfielder who was born and raised on Merseyside. He grew up supporting local giants Liverpool and joined their academy in 2009 at just seven years old. Liverpool scouts spotted him playing for the Greenleas junior team in his home town of Wallasey and he jumped at the chance to sign for his idols.
A decade later, having progressed steadily through the ranks, Morton made his debut for the Liverpool U-18 team and scored a goal in his third appearance, a 6-1 hammering of Everton. He soon established himself as a regular starter in the U18 Premier League and UEFA Youth League, although the season was curtailed by the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.
Youth Cup Runner Up
Tyler Morton began the 2020-21 season in the U-18s, but soon moved up a level. His final match in the U18 Premier League was a 4-3 defeat away to Manchester United in early December in which he got a goal and an assist. By then, he had already made his debut for the Liverpool U-23 team and he instantly looked comfortable at that level, scoring five goals in his first seven Premier League 2 outings, including one in a 6-3 home defeat to United.
Morton continued to feature in the U-18s for the duration of their FA Youth Cup campaign that season, and scored the only goal of the game when they put out Manchester United at Leigh Sports Village in the Fourth Round. Their cup run took them all the way to the final where they faced Aston Villa at Villa Park. Liverpool went behind to two early goals and, although they did pull one back in the second half, they had to settle for runners-up medals.
First Team Football
The 2021-22 season was a busy one for Tyler Morton as he continued to represent the U-23 team regularly but also started to feature in the first team squad and received an international call-up. His Liverpool debut came as a half-time substitute in a League Cup Third Round match away at Norwich City. He replaced Naby Keïta with the score at 1-0 to the Reds and they went on to win 3-0.
His first start came in the following round in a 2-0 win at Preston and he also featured in the quarter-final penalty shoot-out victory against Leicester City. Morton was on the bench for both legs of the semi-final against Arsenal but didn’t make the squad for the final in which Liverpool overcame Chelsea on penalties.
By then he had also made his Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League debuts. Having spent two matches on the bench, he got his first taste of Premier League action as a late substitute in a 4-0 win over Arsenal at Anfield. He made one other Premier League appearance that season, starting in a 2-2 draw away at Spurs. In the Champions League he played the entirety of Liverpool’s final two group games against Porto and Milan once they had already wrapped up qualification with a perfect record.
As he had done in the League Cup, Morton played in some of the early rounds of the FA Cup but wasn’t involved in the final stages as Liverpool went on to secure a cup double with another penalty shoot-out win against Chelsea in the final. In total he made nine senior appearances for the Reds in that breakthrough season.
International Taster
The England call-up came in November 2021 when manager Andy Edwards invited him into the U-20 squad for an Elite League match against Portugal. He came off the bench to replace Dan Neil in the 74th minute of a 2-0 defeat in Leiria. Morton was involved again in March 2022 when he made his first start in a 2-0 defeat to Poland and then played the last few minutes of a 3-1 win against Germany in Colchester.
Loan Spells for Game Time
In the summer of 2022 Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp decided that a loan move would be best for Tyler Morton’s ongoing development, so he joined Blackburn Rovers for a season on Championship football. After a handful of substitute appearances, Morton nailed down a regular staring place at Ewood Park under Jon Dahl Tomasson as Rovers chased a spot in the play-offs. Whilst at Blackburn, he received his first call-up to Lee Carsley’s England U-21 squad, but didn’t get any playing time for them.
The 2023-24 season followed a similar pattern with Hull City this time being the grateful recipients of his services on loan from Liverpool. Morton quickly established himself at the heart of their midfield as they chased, but ultimately missed out on, a place in the play-offs. He did make his England U-21 debut this time around, as a substitute for James McAtee in a 3-0 win at Serbia in an U-21 Euros qualification match. He scored and assisted on his first start, a 3-0 win over Northern Ireland at Goodison Park three days later. No doubt many of his friends and family would have made the short trip across the Mersey from Wallasey to see him play in that one.
Following several years of solid progress, the 2024-25 season back at Liverpool under new manager Arne Slot was something of a disappointment for Tyler Morton. He only made five senior appearances totalling just 261 minutes of action. He didn’t feature at all in the Premier League as the Reds romped home to their 20th league title.
European Glory
Fortunately he remained part of Carsley’s England U-21 plans and had the UEFA European Under-21 Championships in Slovakia to look forward to at the end of the season. He was deployed as a substitute in each of England’s three Group B games as they qualified for the knockout phase in second place behind Germany.
The quarter-finals pitted the Three Lions against a much fancied Spain team and Morton was given the nod in central midfield alongside Bournemouth’s Alex Scott. England raced into an early 2-0 lead but their advantage was halved shortly before the interval. They had to endure some intense Spanish pressure during the second period, but defended resolutely and ultimately wrapped up the tie with a late penalty. Unfortunately for Morton, he picked up his second booking of the tournament, which ruled him out of the semi-final against the Netherlands.
His team mates did the business in his absence and he returned to the squad for the final against Germany at the Tehelné Pole stadium in Bratislava. He watched from the bench as England again took a 2-0 lead and was then called into the action somewhat earlier than anticipated due to an injury to Alex Scott in the 44th minute. No sooner had Morton joined the fray than Germany pulled a goal back in first half stoppage time.
England held onto their 2-1 lead until the hour mark when they were pegged back by the Germans and a stalemate endured until the final whistle. Morton made his most telling contribution of the tournament just two minutes into extra time when his cross from the right found Jonathan Rowe free in the box. The Marseille forward stooped to head home the winner and England retained their European U-21 title after seeing out a nervy last half hour.
A Bright Future
That tournament win ranks as Tyler Morton’s most significant achievement to date and his performances put him in the shop window for a move away from Liverpool in the aftermath of the finals. With first team opportunities likely to be at a premium under Arne Slot, Morton was open to offers and he eventually opted to accept one from Olympique Lyonnais as they looked to rebuild following several high profile departures.
He transferred to Lyon for a fee of €10 million which could rise as high as €15 million if the conditions for various add-ons are subsequently met. Liverpool stand to net 20% of any future sell-on fee from Lyon. Central midfielders Jordan Veretout and Nemanja Matic both left Lyon during the same transfer window, so the path was clear for Morton to stake his claim to a place in the first XI. He impressed during pre-season, so coach Paulo Fonseca handed him a debut in the opening Ligue 1 fixture away at Lens.
Morton played the full ninety minutes of that 1-0 win alongside Tanner Tessmann in defensive midfield and looked assured in his new environment. He was entrusted with taking corner kicks and some free-kicks and offered some much needed creativity in the centre of the park. His tackling and distribution skills look set to be a real asset for Lyon over the coming season.