Elliott is England U21s ‘man for the moment’ amid uncertain future

Harvey Elliott paused and savored the praise with only five minutes left.

After scoring his and England Under-21s’ second goal, the Liverpool forward raised his arms in celebration and drank in the reception area, which ultimately led to the Young Lions reaching their second successive Euro final.

After Lee Carsley’s reigning champions deservedly defeated the Netherlands in Bratislava, Elliott’s double booked a showdown with Germany on Saturday.

After he smashed in a superb 62nd-minute opener, a small group of young fans chanted his name for the majority of the second half, especially after the young fans had spent the majority of the time chanting him. Elliott deserved the praise after a frustrating season.

The 22-year-old won the Premier League with Liverpool last year, but his future at Anfield is uncertain because of his two starts.

Elliott stated that he will assess his club situation this summer and does not want to spend “wasting years” on his career.

If his performances in Slovakia prove to be anything, he will have plenty of potential matchday matches and first-team opportunities.

With four Young Lions goals, Elliott is now the second-highest scorer in the competition and on pace to add to his personal double that helped England win the Euro 2023 title.

Only he and Toulouse’s former Leeds defender Charlie Cresswell are still members of the group’s leadership group and a member of the trophy-winning team from two years ago.

Elliott expressed his regret for his late and decisive winner, saying that “every goal I score is a massive moment because I enjoy scoring goals, I enjoy the feeling and buzz, and it gives me confidence.”

It definitely ranks highly both emotionally and psychologically. Nothing is better than scoring in front of your family in the stands for your country.

“The squad is incredible in terms of the quality, the way we play football as a team, and the sense of cohesion we have,” said the player.

The moment something goes wrong is when we have fear inside of us. I believe there is no longer a fear after the Spain game [in the quarter-finals]. Any team is possible to us.

However, he did acknowledge that his sliding celebration would need to be reconsidered following his opener.

When Liverpool already had the league won, Elliott made 18 league starts under Arne Slot last year. However, his only two starts came against Chelsea and Brighton.

In Jurgen Klopp’s final season, the Reds made 11 starts in 34 league games, a stark contrast to the previous year.

Since graduating from Fulham as a teenager and spending a season on loan at Blackburn in 2020-21, Elliott has made 147 appearances and scored 15 goals for Liverpool.

Carsley, the England Under-21 coach, has only seen Elliott’s ambitions this summer.

He continued, “I haven’t seen a lot of the frustration.” Someone who is determined to play and obtain the minutes is what I have seen. He desires to watch every game and watch every minute.

He has been a key component of the tournament. Due to his explosiveness and end-product, which he lacks in terms of the minutes he plays and the intensity he plays at toward the end of the season, we have to manage his minutes.

We are fortunate to have him, he said.

While Wolves have been mentioned, they have already signed Spaniard Fer Lopez, and any fee for the Molineux outfit is likely to be too high, according to reports that Brighton and former club Fulham have been linked with a move for Elliott.

Former Liverpool defender Stephen Warnock, a member of BBC 5 Live’s Slovakia commentary team, thinks Elliott has managed to ignore speculation about his future and win the Euros.

There is a lot of rumor about whether or not he will play for Liverpool next year. Warnock, who rose through the youth ranks at Anfield, made 67 appearances.

That’s difficult, I say. I’ll be making phone calls to his agent to find out who’s speaking, where we’re headed, and what options there might be. Will I stay in Liverpool? As the tournament progresses, it becomes a rollercoaster.

“I think we all believed he would catapult and play for a long time in the first team because of the number of games he has played for Liverpool and the impact he had when he came in,” he said.

However, he has Alexis Mac Allister, the World Cup winner, in front of him, and [Ryan] Gravenberch, who had a fantastic season, and [Dominik] Szoboszlai, who was signed for a lot of money.

Elliott will now be a hot commodity, according to Joe Cole, a former England international.

Although he has two more years left on his Liverpool contract, Florian Wirtz’s playing time is likely to be even more limited with the £116m purchase from Bayer Leverkusen.

Cole told Channel 4: “I love the kid, he plays football the way he does.” His future is exciting to me. Although he has done a great job for Liverpool, there are still chances for him to leave. He can demonstrate that passion each week.

Anyone who isn’t in the top six does he enjoy entering, and after two years, he returns to his former level and competes.

He began at Fulham as a young man, but he has since expanded. Teams from all over Europe will be searching for the agent’s number of Harvey Elliott.

Cole also thinks Elliott should have given more praise for his matchwinning strike, which he fired from the box’s edge with a low shot into the corner.

If Messi had accomplished that second goal, “the world would be halting.” The frustrating part is that he could do it consistently if he played regularly, according to the former West Ham, Chelsea, and Liverpool midfielder.