I wanted to stay at Liverpool ‘for the rest of my life’ – but now I could join Newcastle United instead

In November 2022, a 19-year-old Harvey Elliott had played in every Premier League and Champions League game of the season so far for Liverpool. He’d scored his first goals in both competitions, building on the reputation he had earned as a youngster at Fulham and while on loan at Blackburn Rovers. Elliott looked set for a long and successful career at Anfield.

“I just want to be at Liverpool for the rest of my life,” he told the club website at the time. “It feels like home now all of my family have moved up with me… there is no better place to be than here.”

Up until last season, it looked like Elliott was on course to get his wish. A regular under Jürgen Klopp, he made 119 appearances under Liverpool’s former manager and only seemed to be getting better as he transitioned from playing as a darting winger to a refined central midfielder – but now, rumours are starting to mount that Elliott could leave Anfield this summer. How did we get here, and will Elliott really leave for Newcastle United?

Why isn’t Harvey Elliott playing more for Liverpool?

While Elliott may have found favour with Klopp, it has been a different story since Arne Slot took charge last summer. Elliott, who turned 22 on Friday, has started just four matches all season, none of them in the Premier League. Under a manager who seldom rotates his players, the England Under-21 international has been sidelined. Elliot, for his part, has avoided airing grievances over his reduced role in public, although occasional comments have hinted at a certain degree of frustration.

“It's down to me to put the work in, to be honest,” Elliott said after scoring the winner against PSG in the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie. “Show him everything that he's told me. I'm trying to work on it, I'm trying to improve and I'm trying to get in this team.

“I feel like I can't get too angry and frustrated because quite frankly the team is doing amazing. As I said, it's a team game. It's just not about me. I just need to make sure that I'm ready in moments like tonight where I can contribute.”

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An admirably professional attitude, given the circumstances, but a blow for a player who had impressed under the old regime. For Slot’s part, he has admitted that players competing for a position with Elliott have simply stayed ahead in the race for minutes.

“It is not to say that if you don’t play someone, you don’t trust them. I do,” Slot told the media. “But probably I find the other ones a bit better otherwise I would make a different choice, or they fit better in the team.”

Elliott, in other words, has not impressed his new coach to the same extent as the old one. Few can argue with the results that Slot’s selection policy has brought given their colossal lead in the league, but from Elliott’s perspective it hints that he may struggle to achieve the long career with Liverpool that he had dreamed of not so long ago.

Will Harvey Elliott leave Liverpool – and sign for Newcastle?

The inevitable result of such a talented player seeing so little time on the field is that speculation about Elliott’s future is starting to circulate around the gossip columns – including a report this week which suggests that he could be the subject of interest from Newcastle.

Not only is Eddie Howe said to admire Elliott’s talent, but it’s even reported that Liverpool have greenlit his departure, for a fee in the region of £40m (some sources suggest £50m). It would at least represent a solid return on investment – two good seasons and a profit of at least £35m, given that Elliott cost £4.3m when he moved from Craven Cottage.

If Slot’s opinion on Elliott’s ability doesn’t improve between now and the end of the season – a stretch of just eight more matches, given that Liverpool have no more cup competitions to concern themselves with - it makes perfect sense for them to move him on. No sense, after all, in hanging on to a player who isn’t in the first-team plans. And while there would be an inevitable sense of waste, the money would come in handy with a rebuild on the immediate horizon. FSG don’t like to spend money they don’t have handy.

Whether Newcastle are sincerely interested, would meet the asking price or would be the sole bidder remains to be seen. For now, all we have is speculation, albeit plausible speculation. Newcastle would benefit from extra numbers in midfield to a certain extent, especially with a likely European campaign in the offing, and Elliott could alternatively fill the void on the right wing left by Miguel Almirón’s winter departure.

It's been some time since Elliott regularly played in such an advanced role, but he shone as a wide forward when on loan at Blackburn in the second tier and has the pace, dynamism and technique to make it work.

Despite playing little this season, Elliott’s underlying stats remain highly impressive. He is creating 5.35 shooting chances per game for his team-mates (about two higher than Jacob Murphy and more than double Sandro Tonali’s mark, by way of comparison), his volume of accurate long passes and his success rate on the dribble are extremely high, and he’s still managing to score at the rate of 0.61 goals every 90 minutes.

Those are all exceptional numbers. There is a question as to whether he’s truly effective as part of the pressing unit – although a willing runner, he doesn’t force many turnovers or make a great number of tackles – and perhaps that’s a part of Slot’s issue with him. If so, it would be interesting should Howe be the manager most interested in signing him, given how central a coordinated press is to Newcastle’s compact game plan.

But his quality is beyond doubt, at least to anyone other than the current Liverpool manager, and he would offer Newcastle versatility, technique and an ability to penetrate opposing defences both with his passing and with his running. Elliott may not quite suit Slot’s style, and it’s possible he isn’t perfect for Howe’s, but he’s far too good to rot away on the bench every week. As for whether he moves – or indeed where – we just need to wait until the summer to find out.