The debates for who should win Liverpool’s Player of the Year have largely been restricted to two members of the squad.
Although others have done well in between, common consensus is that Virgil van Dijk was Liverpool’s star performer of 2023/24, with Alexis Mac Allister a not too distant second.
A third player could argue his case, and did ultimately win the award announced by Liverpool on Friday: Mohamed Salah.
We’re not quite sure even Salah will believe he deserved this one. Although he still managed 25 goals, Salah’s form tailed off massively towards the end of the season.
Aside from Van Dijk, Mac Allister and Salah though, there was perhaps one more, less heralded, Liverpool player who should perhaps have been in the conversation.
Joe Cole raves about Harvey Elliott
Midway through the campaign, there were quite a few Liverpool players who were reasonably standing out.
In fairness to the likes of Trent Alexander-Arnold and Alisson Becker, they may have been higher in the Player of the Year stakes had they remained fit for the full season.
But they didn’t. And as Jurgen Klopp struggled to scrape teams together to go again and again and again, he came to rely on the same, small group of players.
One player who became a big part of that was Harvey Elliott. The 21-year-old had his best season yet at Liverpool, featuring 53 times.
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Elliott was brilliant in Klopp’s final game, sending a final reminder as to why he’ll be crucial to Arne Slot.
And yet despite his obviously quality, Elliott is often overlooked. He didn’t make the Euro 2024 England squad behind the likes of Kobbie Mainoo and Adam Wharton. That’s criminal.
Someone who would tend to agree with that seems to be Joe Cole. Speaking to The Redmen TV, the former Liverpool player questioned why it has taken Elliott so long to earn his praise.
“I’ve been really impressed,” said Cole. “I can’t for the life of me understand why it’s taken so long for Harvey Elliott to get the praise that he’s been getting.
“I’ve been watching him consistently,” he added. “I know Jamie Carragher is a big fan and a good judge of a player as well so I purposefully watched him and he’s a fantastic player. Whether he plays wide on the right or tucked inside a bit deeper, he’s just a good, good footballer.”
Harvey Elliott ready for big role under Arne Slot
For all that we agree with Cole that Elliott has become underrated, it’s also worth remembering that he’s only just turned 21.
Although mightily experienced for his age, the former Fulham prospect is still an incredibly young player.
READ MORE: Ben Foster explains why Harvey Elliott will become even better next season
Elliott has always been a good option for Liverpool. Even as a very young player he always turned up and gave it everything.
But it was really only this season that the England U21 star became a fully-fledged often-time starter in what was a properly functioning team.
If Elliott can carry that on into next season under Slot, then he’ll surely finally get the international recognition he deserves.
It’s also likely that Harvey will continue getting better as the years develop. If anyone isn’t convinced, we’re sure that they will be very soon.