Lewis Koumas has not wasted any time. Less than a month into the new season, the 21-year-old has already made five appearances for Liverpool, and over the next fortnight he will attempt to prove on the international stage what several people in Welsh football have long suspected — that he can make a serious impact for Wales too.
Craig Bellamy’s side open their Nations League Group A4 campaign against Portugal at the Estádio José Alvalade in Lisbon on Thursday, 24 September, before further fixtures against Denmark and Norway. Those games will put Koumas on the same international stage as Cristiano Ronaldo and Erling Haaland, and his manager has no doubt about his value. “I feel he’s going to be a really important player for us for a number of years,” Bellamy said.
Bellamy is not alone in that assessment. Ian Rush is among a growing number of observers impressed by Koumas, and the excitement around him is nothing new. The surname alone invited it, given the reputation of his father, former Wales international Jason Koumas, who won 34 caps and scored 10 goals for his country and played his club football for Tranmere Rovers, West Bromwich Albion, Cardiff City and Wigan Athletic.
Danny Gabbidon, who played alongside the older Koumas for Wales, remembers a player who could “do a bit of everything” and was “technically amazing”, capable of looking after the ball, passing and scoring fantastic goals. Gabbidon also recalls a mercurial talent who could delight and frustrate in equal measure and “could be a bit lazy at times”. By contrast, he sees qualities in the son that the father may have lacked. “You wouldn’t have seen Jason running around like Lewis the other night [for Liverpool against Tottenham],” Gabbidon said.
That appetite has been noted for some time. Barry Lewtas, formerly Liverpool’s Under-21 head coach, describes Koumas as “a coach’s dream”, pointing to his effort, his will to learn and develop and the way he applies himself. A Liverpool supporter from birth, Koumas has been with the club since primary school age, following a path his father once took — Jason was a nine-year-old team-mate of Steven Gerrard and Michael Owen, but moved on to Tranmere without making the breakthrough at Liverpool. Lewis has flourished instead, particularly after being pushed from midfield into a forward role at the age of 16, an exposure to playing deeper that Lewtas believes was an important part of his development. Lewtas credits the influence of then Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, with Koumas’ finishing prowess and ferocious pressing making his path obvious.
Klopp gave Koumas his senior debut, and he scored in the FA Cup against Southampton in February 2024 before being an unused substitute as Liverpool beat Chelsea to win the League Cup at Wembley. More than 900 days then passed before his next first-team appearance, a gap filled by three loan spells in the Championship. At Stoke City he played under three different managers in a single season but earned a role under all three, a spell credited with boosting his belief. He played 25 times for Birmingham City in the first half of last season, though managed only seven league starts, before joining Hull City, where he played an important part in the Tigers’ promotion via the play-offs.
Koumas returned to Liverpool in the summer with renewed confidence, and the assumption that another loan beckoned was ended by new boss Andoni Iraola a week into the club’s pre-season trip to the United States. A Premier League debut followed, along with a first Champions League appearance, and then a relentless man-of-the-match display against Tottenham that won over the Anfield crowd and appeared to symbolise the demands of the club’s new manager. “He’s really matured since making his debut,” said Theo Squires, senior football writer at the Liverpool Echo. “Back then he was just a boy who had caught the eye at academy level as a versatile forward with a keen eye for goal. He looks almost unrecognisable physically. Leading the line against Tottenham, he more than held his own and he was a constant nuisance with his pace and never-say-die pressing.” Iraola described Koumas’ energy as contagious for the rest of the Liverpool squad, the club’s £100m-plus signings included.
Koumas knows what he is capable of. Matty Jones, the Wales Under-21 head coach, has spoken of the regular meetings he held with the player to ensure there was no chance of England claiming the Wirral-born forward, one of which ended with Koumas telling him: “I’ll win you games.” A match-winning, curling finish on his international under-21 debut in 2025 backed up that quiet self-assurance. Before last June’s senior international friendlies, Koumas said Wales fans had not seen “anything from me yet”, noting that cameo roles meant he needed to work harder and show more to earn the trust of the manager. He then scored his first international goal against Ghana, and has one goal in 12 Wales appearances. “He’s been there in every squad I’ve announced but I felt in the summer, he turned,” Bellamy said. “When he came on against Ghana, he changed it completely — and he’s a player who’s capable of that.”
Both his club and international managers agree there is more to work on, and more to come. “He knows there is a higher ceiling,” Lewtas said. “Knowing Lewis’ appetite for things, he won’t be worried about it, he’ll be looking forward to it.”