Liverpool plan to use Harvey Elliott in their first team squad next season, according to the Liverpool Echo.
The newspaper claim on their website that a deal for the 16-year-old, whose contract at Fulham has expired, could be completed this week.
The Liverpool Echo report that Jurgen Klopp has no immediate plan to send Elliot to the Kirkby Academy, but instead would prefer to introduce him into the first-team setup.
Klopp is suggested to believe that Elliot would benefit and develop much more as a player from learning from the more senior figures at Anfield.
Liverpool were reported by Goal to have beaten Manchester City and Arsenal to the 16-year-old’s signature.
OPINION
It would come as no real surprise to see Elliott train with the first team this summer should he complete his move from Craven Cottage. Young starlets such as Trent Alexander-Arnold and Rhian Brewster have shown that it is possible to break into the first-team set-up should you perform well enough in training. Liverpool have already signed 17-year-old defender Sepp van den Berg, who has been catapulted straight into the action at Melwood. Elliott must take it all in his stride and play with a sense of freedom this summer, and be thankful to be given such a great chance to play for his boyhood club. This also signifies Klopp’s intentions for the upcoming campaign, who instead of majorly strengthening a squad that almost won the club’s first ever Premier League, will now look to add a blend of youth in the hope of improving the squad gradually. Elliott will be given the opportunity should a deal be completed, and it is up to him to prove himself on one of the biggest stages of all.
