Liverpool attacking midfielder Harvey Elliott has a decision to make on his future after the club signed Florian Wirtz.
It’s a frank conversation that Arne Slot will know is in the offing.
The Liverpool head coach may well have already held such discussions. If they haven’t taken place, they are likely to in the near future. One way or another, Harvey Elliott will want to know where he stands. After lighting up the Under-21 European Championship, winning Player of the Tournament as England claimed back-to-back glory, Elliott will have much to ponder.
During the Euros, the attacking midfielder admitted he does not want to be ‘wasting’ years of his career. Elliott will scarcely think that the 2024-25 season was an exercise in futility. He won the Premier League title with his boyhood club - something few players achieve.
Decision to make
But playing regularly is what he ultimately covets, especially now that he’s aged 22. Elliott made just 18 league appearances en route to the top-flight crown. Granted, he spent almost three months unavailable because of a fractured foot. But he was a bit-part player in Arne Slot’s maiden season as head coach. His only starts in the top flight came after the silverware was claimed. In his favoured No.10 role, Dominik Szoboszlai and Curtis Jones were both preferred.
Given that Liverpool have splashed out a club-record £100 million for Florian Wirtz, it has shrouded Elliott’s position into further doubt. He can operate on the right flank but that is the undisputed position of Mo Salah.
In truth, a reluctant sale may be agreed. Elliott has underlined that he has too much quality to remain on the periphery. Liverpool will know that the diminutive ace’s price tag is at its peak after a scintillating Euros for the Young Lions. If Elliott is available, he will not be short of suitors.
Leipzig linked
And perhaps a reunion with Jurgen Klopp could be in the offing. It was Klopp who handed Elliott his breakthrough at Liverpool. In the German’s final season as manager, he admitted he did not use the former Fulham schemer enough. Klopp knows all about Elliott’s prowess.
“It’s not that I go back and think ‘OK, what did we all do wrong?’,” the legendary former Anfield boss said. But if I regret one thing a little bit it’s that Harvey didn’t play often enough maybe. Because in a very important, intense period – January, a lot of injuries – he played really good. He was probably our best player, right wing, right midfield, all these kinds of things. Everybody came back and he had minutes here, minutes there and he didn’t start anymore, came on, big impact.”
Klopp is now Red Bull’s head of global soccer. In his remit, he works with RB Leipzig. Die Rotten Bulen have become one of the Bundesliga’s top sides. They have been in the Champions League for the past six seasons, won two DFB-Pokals and twice finished as runners-up to Bayern Munich in the table. Last term was an undoubted blip as Leipzig could only claim seventh spot and missed out on European qualification entirely. Still, the aim at the Red Bull Arena under new head coach Ole Werner will be to be competing at the top of the table in 2025-26.
Leipzig have been linked with Elliott, although they are said to be put off by a potential price tag of £50 million. However, there could be a middle ground met, with £40 million also mooted and Leipzig could fund the deal by selling the likes of Benjamin Sesko or Harvey Elliott.
There might be much to consider. Elliott is now having a deserved break after the Euros. But when he returns to the AXA Training Centre, Slot might be expecting a knock on his office door.
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