A prominent ex-Premier League scout has claimed that Liverpool could reluctantly entertain the possibility of selling one member of Arne Slot’s current squad.
As per Football Insider, there had been rumours in January of interest in Harvey Elliott from Brighton and Borussia Dortmund, although the same outlet later claimed that Anfield chiefs were planning talks over a possible contract renewal for the 21-year-old, whose existing deal runs to June 2027.
The midfielder/winger has started only three matches all season, albeit that he’d likely have had a few more were it not for a foot fracture during the autumn.
Liverpool ‘might be open to selling’ Harvey Elliott
Mick Brown – the former chief scout at Manchester United and Blackburn who remains well-connected within the sport – believes that Liverpool are keen to hold onto the youngster but could be open to offers if there’s a possibility of reaping a significant amount from his sale.
Speaking about Elliott to Football Insider, he said: “Liverpool want to keep him. However, they might be open to selling if they can get a decent fee for him, which would allow them to go back into the transfer market and strengthen other areas of their team.
“If he doesn’t sign a new deal, they won’t want him to run down his contract like we’ve seen with Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold.
“There’s a lot of competition for places in his position; that’s the reason he hasn’t been in the side. They’ve got players like Mac Allister and Szoboszlai there, so letting him go and bringing in some good money might be something they look to do.
“He’s been a bit of a fringe player, but he’s still a very good option to have. You need those types of players in your squad who have the quality but can go in and out of the side. Whether he’ll be happy playing that role long-term will be up to him.”
Elliott unlikely to leave Liverpool any time soon
Every footballer has his price, and Elliott is one who could yield a substantial fee for Liverpool, who’ve worked wonders in selling so-called ‘fringle players’ over the past few years – just look at the amounts the club fetched for Sepp van den Berg and Fabio Carvalho last summer.
However, as Brown points out, the Reds’ number 19 is someone whose value to the squad is enormous even if he’s only a sporadic starter.
The 21-year-old has scored in our last two Champions League matches and has three goals from just 404 minutes of game-time this season (Transfermarkt), and Mo Salah recently hailed him as ‘a great lad’ who ‘always tries to give his best’ (Amazon Prime Video Sport).
With Liverpool potentially facing an extra fixture to crowbar into an already packed February, Slot will be counting on the likes of Elliott to come into the side and make an impact so that our regular starters can enjoy a breather without the quality of the line-up being overly diminished.
Even though the youngster hasn’t feature a whole lot this term, his self-proclaimed adoration for LFC means that he’s extremely unlikely to push for an exit, and he knows that his opportunities will come whenever he’s available.
We don’t envisage our number 19 leaving Anfield any time soon.
