Jurgen Klopp decided not to pursue a move for Saul Niguez last summer due to the way Harvey Elliott trained for Liverpool in pre-season.
That comes from The Athletic today. They claim that following reports in the press that Liverpool were making a move for Saul, Klopp dismissed the rumours.
The boss reportedly questioned why The Reds would sign anyone else when Elliott had ‘trained so well’ in their camp in Austria.
Klopp’s faith in Elliott shines through
It feels normal that Elliott is part of the Liverpool first-team squad these days. But that wasn’t necessarily the case when The Reds reported back for pre-season last summer.
After an excellent loan at Blackburn Rovers in 2020/21, there was a feeling that the teenager could move on temporarily again, perhaps to a Premier League side.
That may well have been the plan. However, Elliott’s performances in training appear to have put paid to that and thrust him into Klopp’s ideas.
The then 18-year-old Elliott went on to play a part in all four of Liverpool’s opening Premier League games. His application in pre-season was rewarded with a brief cameo on the opening day before he started the next three games consecutively.
When you consider the options Klopp has in midfield, that’s mightily impressive.
We’ll never know if Liverpool would have made a move for Saul without Elliott’s showing. The midfielder was obviously on the market – he joined Chelsea on loan where he has struggled this season.
But there’s a player in there, Diego Simeone once said he had everything to be ‘among the best midfielders in the world’ via talkSPORT.
To turn down a player like that for an unproven teenager is credit to Klopp and Elliott himself.
Pulling the hand-break
Elliott hasn’t featured as much since returning from his lengthy time out injured in January.
That is likely more a reflection of the strength of depth Klopp currently has and the need for experience as Liverpool chase a quadruple. It certainly isn’t an indication that the manager has lost some faith in ‘the little diamond.‘
Having turned nineteen earlier this week, Elliott will be a part of Klopp’s plans for a long time yet. There’s no need for him to rush back having missed four months of the season.
If he can show the same hunger and desire when the next pre-season rolls around, there’s every chance he could catapult his way back into Klopp’s first-choice eleven next season.
Receive a digest of our best Liverpool content each week direct to your mailbox
