Difference-maker Harvey Elliott is Liverpool's superstar of the future
Tom Weber
- 9 Dec 2023 10:11 CST
- 3 min read
Young Harvey Elliott is showing that he has the chops to become a Liverpool superstar.
It is easy to forget that the attacking midfielder is still very much a prospect for the future. It feels as though he has been around for ages and that is, well, because he has. Having broken onto the scene at Fulham as a youngster, Elliott made the switch to an elite club very early in his professional career.
When a young player comes into a big side from outside, rather than being nurtured by the club themselves, it can prove particularly difficult to break into the first team consistently, especially when weighed down by the expectations that are attached to the 'wonderkid' tag. Elliott was very much the quintessential wonderkid when he joined the Anfield club and he has not always found it easy.
This season, however, Elliott really appears to be enjoying his football. Jurgen Klopp has trusted the 20-year-old with a lot of responsibility in the Europa League, starting him and letting him go the full 90 minutes in every game so far. His biggest shortcoming in Europe has been his lack of production as he is still without a goal contribution.
The new super sub Harvey Elliott!
Every game he makes a difference from the bench.— Jamie Carragher (@Carra23) December 9, 2023
Tiny sample size, big impact
In the Premier League, the story has been somewhat different. The youngster has been almost exclusively used as a substitute, but in his limited minutes, he has had a quite stunning impact.
In their most recent game against Crystal Palace, Liverpool were struggling and needed a hero. While the headlines will be about Mohamed Salah notching his 200th goal for the club to equalise, it was Elliott who came on and changed the game, eventually scoring the winner with a stunning effort.
Indeed, looking at SciSports data, you would be forgiven to think that Harvey Elliott is the best midfielder in the Premier League. Of course, there is a massive caveat and that is the fact that he has only played 297 Premier League minutes this term, so it can't be taken at face value.
It does go to show, however, that Elliott is a player who still has massive potential despite it almost appearing as though his career has stalled because he has been around for so long and is still 'only' a squad player at Liverpool.
According to SciSports, Elliott has the potential to become a better player than Curtis Jones, for example, so he clearly has the chops to be an important player for the Reds for years to come. If he performs like he did against Palace more consistently, he will become a starter sooner rather than later.
