Harvey Elliott has shared that he used to wear a ‘Sadio Mane 19’ Liverpool shirt when he was a child.
Speaking to liverpoolfc.com after taking Mane’s old number, Elliott claimed that he used to wear a shirt with his former teammate’s name on it.
“I remember having a Sadio shirt with the number 19 on it as a kid,” said the teenager. “So to be able to wear it after him, it’s a great pleasure. At the end of the day, a number is just a number, but it’s just nice to have a lower number. I think it’s a great opportunity going into another season.
“So, hopefully I can prove to myself and prove to everyone that I’m able to have these kind of numbers and able to perform under this kind of pressure, because it comes with it. I’m just so excited to put this shirt on and get playing again.”
This represents the next step in Elliott’s transformation into a reliable first-team option for Liverpool. Taking on Mane’s old number, he has big boots to fill. Such is the young man’s confidence though, he’ll be relishing the challenge.
New season, new number
We wrote about Elliott taking on Mane’s old number after the 30-year-old left for Bayern Munich. We thought he might be an outside shot to take on the vacant number 10 shirt, though.
Instead, it seems that the storied number is being saved for someone else.
That’s probably for the best. It will be tricky enough for Elliott given that his predecessor in the 19 shirt is Mane as well. There’s no need to put added pressure on him at this stage with a big number.
Good signs for Elliott ahead of a big season
It does bode well though that he’s been given the green light to take a more recognisable number. Elliott has been looking sharp ahead of pre-season and will be desperate to make up for lost time out injured last season.
It’s easy to forget that Elliott is barely the age of his new number. Now heading into his fourth season as a Liverpool player, he’s still a teenager.
Liverpool look unlikely to add to their midfield ranks this summer due to their belief that both he and Curtis Jones can blossom in 2022/23.
Jones looked more at home in the first-team squad after switching from 48 to 17 ahead of 2020/21. Hopefully Elliott can get a similar amount of games under his belt to the 34 Jones did that year.
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