Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott has been rated as the top U21 player in the Premier League.
Elliott was a mainstay for Jurgen Klopp during the season just gone, racking up 46 appearances and scoring five times. There were some difficult periods for the 20-year-old, but according to The Mirror, he did enough to earn some lofty recognition.
They claim that Elliott has taken his place as the highest ranked Premier League player in this year’s ‘Golden Boy’ award. The gong is voted for by journalists from The Times, L’Equipe and Tuttosport, who have rated Europe’s best young prospects.
Ahead of an awards ceremony in November, an initial list has been published gathering the votes so far. It makes for impressive reading for Elliott, who sits in 14th place overall.
That might be a little further down the list than he would have liked. But it still places him ahead of his peers across the country. There’s further good news for Liverpool, with Stefan Bajcetic voted the third best prospect in England’s top-flight, 21st overall. The young pair won’t be winning this award, but it’s good to hear nonetheless.
Liverpool sent Elliott reminder
It’s sometimes easy to forget just how young Harvey Elliott is. The former Fulham man took a little bit of stick last season as Liverpool floundered with him in the team. But in reality, he stood up extremely well in a very tough year for the club.
Despite results not going the Reds’ way, Harvey never shirked anything. He fronted up the cameras after poor displays and took responsibility on the pitch. It’s not for nothing that he was called ‘magnificent’ during the campaign.
Sure, he could have been better at times and he can certainly improve, but he’s still barely 20. Improvements will come.
As this list goes to show, what Elliott is doing at Liverpool isn’t normal. The England U21 international has racked up 113 senior games already. 66 of those have been with the Reds. Performing at such a high level at such a young age shouldn’t be dismissed. We’re glad it isn’t being.
Having played such a big role for Liverpool during 2022/23 though, it’ll be fascinating to see how much Harvey gets on the pitch next season.
A lot will obviously depend on the players brought through the door this summer. With midfield the area of focus though, Elliott will perhaps be sweating on his place.
He has the chance to send a reminder of his qualities at the Euro U21 tournament, which is set to start today. Klopp won’t have needed one, he knows just how good his No.19 is. But for the rest of the fan base, this nod to Elliott’s burgeoning quality should serve to refresh our memory that we have a special little player on our hands.
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