Once a football club signs a player, generally one of their current crop has to suffer – the situation Harvey Elliott faces at Liverpool now…
ON Saturday, as we do every year, a bunch of us hired some boats in Berkshire, got off at Runnymede, played a tight defensive game of footy (8-8 this year) and took to the river again.
It’s been a tradition since the aftermath of Istanbul when we just wanted to meet up for a pint and continue the high of the Ataturk Stadium. That year we wanted to celebrate the Champions League, and, thanks to the pandemic, this was the first time we got to do it as supporters of the League Champions.
As we posed for the obligatory Runnymede Shield photo, we realised we needed someone to take it. My mate Jamie, still bragging about the five shanked and shinned goals he scored, approached a passerby and asked him to rally round.
We got talking and asked about his own football allegiance. In reply he pointed to his mates in the distance and said he was with Harvey Elliott’s sister, Hannah. Heads spun around.
We wondered if she’d seen us play and recorded a highlights reel to pass on to her brother’s boss. It was probably best not to.
It was strange timing. Harvey has been the main topic of conversation throughout the red world this week, thanks to being the standout player of the U21s Euros in Bratislava where he scored five goals.
Despite that display of his obvious talents, it’s unclear if he’ll stay with The Champions next season as he’s fallen down the pecking order at Anfield. The signing of Florian Wirtz may be the last straw.
There have been rumours of interest from Brighton and RB Leipzig and it might be in his interest to move on. At 22 and with his star on the rise, these are about to be his best years, and he can’t really do that hoping we go deep into the League Cup so he’ll get some minutes.
It looks like those best years will be spent elsewhere.
I feel for him. The goalposts have moved considerably over the past 12 months and even before that he was blighted with injuries. Last season, he fell behind Dominik Szoboszlai as the creative player behind the nine and now Dom too is looking over his shoulder.
That happens when teams go through upgrades. Very gifted players can be occulted by new signings and are forced to move on through their own ambition. It’s a shame, but it’s for the good of the club.
Have you ever gone back and listened to old Anfield Wrap podcasts? I try not to as there’ll always be a chance I’ll be on one and hear myself say something mind-bendingly stupid (‘Maybe we should leave Southampton alone for a bit and move on from Virgil van Dijk’ – still a favourite).
It’s always weird to go back and hear talk of former players being spoken of in glowing terms when, through hindsight, we can see how we needed to upgrade on them to be considered a serious prospect.
Emre Can leaps to mind. A decent enough player but not one we’d even consider now.
We’re now at the stage where a fantastic player like Harvey Elliott can’t be guaranteed to be even the third substitute to come on.
It must be hard to take. Brighton (if he does go there) are no slouches, but it would be a step down from the days of scoring the winner away at PSG and throwing trophies around at Anfield. He may well become their best player, but he’d be dining at a different table than the one he’s used to. Levels and all that.
I sort of hope he stays, but it seems almost cruel to want that. He’s got so many appearances to make, and I don’t think many, if any, of them will be here.
We never got to meet Hannah Elliott on Saturday. A shame in many ways as I was keen to ask about his bewildering array of hairstyles over the years.
I wish him well, though. More importantly, I wish us well too.
Football can be cruel.
