I couldn't say no to Liverpool FC - Steve Cooper

"It's not every day that a club likes Liverpool comes knocking on your door," he said. "But I have got a lot of very mixed emotions at the moment.

"I am delighted, these things don't come along all too often, and when they do it's almost impossible to turn them down.

"But I've got a lot of mixed emotions. I'm delighted to be joining Liverpool, but on the other hand I'm very sad to be leaving Wrexham.

"I've been at Wrexham for 12 years and I've seen a lot of very good players come. The hardest part of leaving was telling the young players we have at the club.

"I have grown up with them and you develop a bond with them, which is very hard to break.

"I used to follow Liverpool as a kid and I remember going to a few of their games, but I would say I am now a huge Wrexham fan, and I honestly always will be."

Cooper, 28, joined Wrexham at the age of 16, and after two years on a YTS and two years as a pro, was let go from the clubs' playing books. However, he found himself working part time as the under-11s coach at Wrexham, before being taken on as one of the youth coaches - working under Steve Weaver.

And Cooper has moved up through the ranks at the club to his current position as head of youth development.

"I never made it as a professional, which I can happily say now," he added. "But I think it was probably the best thing that ever happened to me, because I got a job on the youth coaching staff and I have never looked back.

"I have grown up at Wrexham and played under Cliff Sear and Joey Jones, but they have also helped me to develop as a person and that's something I am always trying to impress on the youth players here."

Cooper has overseen huge changes at Wrexham during his 12-year association with the club, and has also played a huge part in many youngsters making the step up to the senior side - most recently Wes Baynes and Neil Taylor.

But he has other highlights from his years that he will take with him.

"Obviously from my point of view it's great when you see one of the younger players doing so well," Cooper said. "At the moment Neil (Taylor) and Wes (Baynes) are doing very well in the senior side.

"But I remember last season when the captains of Wales under-16s, 17 and 19s were all from Wrexham, and as a proud Welshman that was a huge highlight for me.

"But to see the young players develop, and it's not just down to me it's also down to the work Steve Weaver did before me, but to see the young lads develop into young men is the best thing of the job."