Liverpool prodigy Harvey Elliott is set to make his Anfield debut on Wednesday night in their Carabao Cup clash with Arsenal.
The 16-year-old impressed in the previous round of the competition in their 2-0 win at MK Dons and he was denied a goal twice by the woodwork.
Jurgen Klopp looks likely to make changes all over the pitch against the Gunners and Elliott will feature at some point.
In May, Elliott became the Premier League’s youngest ever player when he entered the pitch for Fulham at Molineux, aged 16 years and 30 days old.
Since then he has joined Liverpool and the boyhood Reds fan revealed his hopes for progression at Anfield.
“I’ll work as hard as I possibly can for the club and I feel Anfield is the perfect place for me to develop and progress as a player,” he said.
Harvey Elliott – The stats so far
All you need to know about Liverpool's newest youth prospect
Age – 16
Current Club – Liverpool
Former Club(s) – Fulham
Youth Development – QPR, Fulham
Position – Winger
Nationality – English
Premier League appearances – 2
EFL Cup appearances – 2
Club career so far
Elliott became Fulham’s youngest ever player when he made his debut in an EFL Cup victory over Millwall last September. He was just 15 years and 174 days old.
Following the sacking of Claudio Ranieri, caretaker manager Scott Parker included him in three Premier League match day squads before handing him his record-breaking top flight debut against Wolves.
One week later he made a second substitute appearance against Newcastle at Craven Cottage.
In total, he has played 18 minutes of Premier League football in his career so far.
Showing masses of potential and drawing interest from Real Madrid, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, he signed for Liverpool in July 2019.
What’s being said about him?
Parker, now the permanent manager at Craven Cottage, was full of praise for the youngster following his appearances earlier this year.
“He is a technically gifted football player. A special talent. He has got a naturalness about him, an ease.
“He is very clean with the ball, can handle the ball very well for someone so young.
“Harvey has played all his career with kids his own age and now is probably the first time he is playing against men.
“Often you find that transition is very difficult for young players.
“But with him you wouldn’t know and that’s probably the sign of a top player or someone who has the ability to be a top player because the transition he has made has been very smooth.”
Following his switch to Merseyside, Parker said he was disappointed to lose Elliott while also raising concern about the lack of playing opportunities that lay ahead at Liverpool.
“I was gutted and disappointed he chose to leave,” he added.
“At Liverpool he is going to get less opportunities than he would have here. That is not to say it is right or wrong. Time will tell.”
Speaking with talkSPORT host Jim White in July, former Fulham and Liverpool midfielder, Danny Murphy, said Elliott has the potential to be a superstar.
He said: “It might not transpire this summer, but in the next couple of seasons I would imagine they’re hoping he develops to get some first-team action.”
He continued: “He’s a great dribbler, he’s very sharp and he’s got good feet.
“He could play in one of those front three roles, that’s probably where we’d see him get his go.
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“We’ll probably see him in a cup competition this season. I think this kid could be a superstar and if he has got the talent to do it, he’s at the right place.”
After a quiet summer transfer window, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp was delighted to add Elliott to the books at Anfield.
After a pre-season loss to Napoli in July the Champions League winning manager was full of praise for the youngster: “I could say so many positive things about the boy, we signed him, he came here, he decided for us and could have gone pretty much everywhere but he wanted to be part of Liverpool.
“The stories with the boy start early and already he is the youngest ever Premier League player and has broken quite a few records because of his talent.
“Now he is here so let’s work with him. He needs game time, we will see where he gets that but he is obviously a fine, fine footballer and that’s why we were really interested.”
How is he progressing at Liverpool?
Elliott is learning important lessons from senior professionals within Jurgen Klopp’s squad, according to assistant manager Pepijn Ljinders.
The 16-year-old has just returned from a 14-day Football Association ban for using offensive language in mocking England and Tottenham striker Harry Kane in a video which was made public on social media.
He now trains with the first team virtually full-time and Ljinders believes that is a valuable learning experience for the youngster.
“We can’t forget that he is only 16, of course. We have to be careful with that,” he said.
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“But how I see him, since I have been working with him, I see a very educated boy. I see a boy who is really passionate for the game.
“If you come here, and you see Milly (James Milner), Hendo (Jordan Henderson), (Adam) Lallana, Gini (Wijnaldum), Virg (Virgil Van Dijk), Bobby (Roberto Firmino) – all examples in different ways.
“Players who never whine. Players who never complain or make excuses. In the hardest moments, they never give up and they never give up our way.
“They always put the team above themselves. For a young player, you could not wish to have a better environment to grow.
“Talent needs models, not criticism. There’s not a much more powerful weapon than the examples of senior pros.”