Harvey Elliott and Curtis Jones will be eyeing England places
Harvey Elliott is having a really good season, on the quiet. He is impacting games off the bench in the Premier League, and looks to have found a new level in terms of his physical output, self-belief and consistency.
He has emerged as one of the real stars of a very talented England U21 group, and inevitably there will be questions asked of whether he can make the step up to the senior side ahead of the European Championships.
That’ll be a tall order, I believe, simply because Elliott would need to establish himself as a regular starter for Liverpool in the biggest games. And with the likes of Gravenberch, Jones, Gakpo, Mac Allister, Szoboszlai and Endo all competing for places, and others such as Bajcetic and Thiago to return from injury, he will have his work cut out.
I do, however, think he has the game to impress Gareth Southgate. He keeps the ball well, he passes with purpose, he has goals and assists in him and he has shown that he can handle the other side of the game as a midfielder. He still has areas to improve, for sure, but if he can get a run of starts under his belt, and a little bit of luck to go with it, then he might be able to put himself in the conversation for next summer. The same applies to Curtis Jones, in my opinion, and I’d have him maybe slightly ahead of Elliott at this stage, on account of his age, size and physicality. If I was Jones, I’d be targeting that squad because he is more than capable of getting in.
Liverpool linked with two Brazilian wonderkids
Liverpool continue to be linked with Andre from Fluminense, but Anfield sources have begun to play down suggestions of a January move. There was definitely interest in the Brazilian in the summer, when contact was made with his club to ascertain the conditions of a potential deal, but the subsequent signings of Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch seem to have significantly reduced Liverpool’s need for another midfielder and as it stands, I’d be surprised if Liverpool were in for Andre in January.
Liverpool, generally, do not sign first-team players directly from South America. Their tendency in the past has been to wait and see how a talent develops once it has moved to Europe – think of Diaz, Firmino, Fabinho, Nunez, Mac Allister and Alisson as six great examples – before making their move when the player reaches their early-mid 20s.
Maybe that will start to change with the Premier League relaxing its rules regarding work permits for non-European players. That will make it easier for clubs like Liverpool to cut out the middleman, so to speak, but as yet we have seen no evidence of them doing so.
In terms of whether an 18-year-old like Moscardo, or indeed a 22-year-old in Andre, is the right player for the club, I think most would wish for someone a little more proven in top-level football, but it is also fair to say that the club’s recruitment team generally get it right, so if they were to push the button, they would deserve to be trusted. I’m just not sure they will, for these players.