Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp admitted that his handling of Harvey Elliott was his ‘one regret’ at Anfield - and the England Under-21 star has already caused an issue for Arne Slot in the opening period of the season.
Elliott has been on the fringes of the starting lineup ever since he arrived from Fulham as a 16-year-old, becoming the youngest-ever player to start a match for Liverpool.
This season had been no different, albeit with Dominik Szoboszlai given the early nod in an advanced midfield role, supported by the deeper duo of Alexis Mac Allister and Ryan Gravenberch.
Related articles
However, the Hungarian has struggled in the past few games, especially in the surprise 1-0 home defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest. But Slot cannot call upon Elliott in place of Szoboszlai due to injury.
Slot has labelled it a big disappointment he does not have the Englishman available, which follows on from Klopp saying in May: "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. But it’s really nice that he could show that [against Tottenham].”
If Klopp had realised his mistake and used Elliott more often, he could have been in the senior England setup rather than the U21s, where he was forced to pull out of the squad as a result of a fractured foot.
He was limited to just seven minutes of football under Slot but will be out until at least the October international break, missing Liverpool’s opening Champions League tie at AC Milan and the start of a busier fixture schedule that would have offered more opportunities to play.
The injury came at an unfortunate time not just for Elliott, but also Slot. Szoboszlai’s poor form likely would have opened the door for Elliott to replace him potentially in Italy, but also for upcoming games against Bournemouth and West Ham.
Without Elliott, there are few natural alternatives in the squad who can play in the No.10 role.
Curtis Jones could do a similar job, but is better suited to a deeper role where Alexis Mac Allister has impressed, and has played just two minutes of football so far this season. Cody Gakpo similarly could be tried in a deeper role but has struggled to replicate the form he showed for the Netherlands at Euro 2024.
