Harvey Elliott should not have to wait much longer for England chance

Me and my son were the original conductors aboard the Harvey Elliott hype train. From following his loan spell at Blackburn Rovers to watching him rip it up in preseason games, scoring overhead kicks at youth level and starring on the opening day of the season against Chelsea it was obvious that the boy was going places, and he was going to get their fast.

We all know he isn’t blessed with pace, but what he lacks in out right speed he more than makes up for in his mind and with hard graft.

Positionally he is smart, technically he is outstanding, and he has a left foot that looks like being as dangerous as Trent’s right. And I fully believe that if he hadn’t suffered with a badly broken ankle against Leeds Utd then Liverpool would have pipped Man City to the 2021/22 Premier League title.

However, while we were doing our best to build up some Harvey momentum after his return from injury many Reds fans were quick to rubbish his abilities. Liverpool Twitter awash with burning remarks that questioned whether he had what it takes to make it at Anfield.

Pep Lijnders also took some stick when he talked about project Elliott and labelled the youngster as one of the best young midfielders in Europe.

However, despite the online hate, me and my son had full faith and it was faith that has been fully vindicated this season.

With every appearance he has grown in stature and confidence, and he finally won over any doubters with his performance and wonder strike during the recent 4-2 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

So good has Harvey been this year that he has stolen the starting spot from £65m signing Dominik Szoboszlai, a move that we have been calling for since Christmas.

But despite his on-field qualities, his four goals and eleven assists in all competitions and gaining the love of the Anfield crowd it seems there are still those that don’t appreciate him.

Gareth Southgate has just named his provisional 33-man squad for the European Championships and amazingly Harvey was not included.

Youngsters Adam Wharton and Kobbie Mainoo were picked as was Liverpool’s own Curtis Jones despite his recent injury concerns and losing his spot in the Liverpool starting line-up. Which makes you wonder what Harvey will have to do next season to finally get the senior international call up he deserves.