It has been a tough season for Harvey Elliott, but he seized his chance in the first leg against PSG, replacing Mohamed Salah before scoring a vital goal within a minute. Ahead of the return fixture, he has opened up on his relationship with the Egyptian.
The form of Salah this season has been exceptional, all but eliminating Elliott’s opportunities on the right wing. In truth, that has been the case since the moment he came through the door at Anfield.
So far, he has also struggled to cement himself in midfield under Arne Slot in the same way he did under Jurgen Klopp. But Elliott shows no resentment to those ahead of him in the pecking order, least of all Salah.
“He’s done everything,” Elliott gushed to Ben Foster on Prime Video Sport, when asked what Salah has done for him. “I was kind of surprised to be honest.
“Because of the greatness of who he is and what he’s achieved in football, I was kind of thinking like… I was a bit nervous at the start. You don’t really know how these big players are going to react, and it was the first time I’ve been around superstars.”
Elliott was certainly exposed to the first team at a young age. As a teenager, he had nine Liverpool appearances under his belt even before a vastly successful loan switch to Blackburn. When he returned from that Championship sojourn, Klopp decided that Elliott was ready to challenge for a spot. That put him in direct competition with Salah, among others.
“They can kind of see how hard it is for youngsters to come in,” Elliott said of the senior squad. “Especially being really young, trying to establish yourself in the first team. [Salah] was giving me pointers like what I needed to do, how I needed to do things, the philosophy of how we play, and what the manager wants. Even to this day, me and him have a really close connection now.
(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
“And I’d say it’s more of a friendship than him just trying to help me out. But the way he’s handled me and put me on the path to somewhat get where I am today.”
The next question is where that path leads. A boyhood fan, Elliott will certainly hope that it keeps him at Anfield, despite claims that limited game time could force him to look elsewhere. Given their bond, Elliott clearly won’t be rooting for Salah to leave upon the expiration of his contract in the summer. But Slot, Richard Hughes and the rest of the team will need to decide whether its young talent has what it takes to one day take over.
That isn’t an easy question to answer. But if nothing else, Elliott has served the ultimate apprenticeship — the mentorship role Salah has adopted says it all about the Liverpool icon, and it might just have prepared the way for his successor.
