Liverpool's 'best player' in 2024 will STRUGGLE to play under Arne Slot

Harvey Elliott is nearly back in the fold at Liverpool. But he faces an uphill battle to get into the team under Arne Slot.

Harvey Elliott is nearing his return for Liverpool. The 21-year-old has trained with the Under 21s this week, continuing his comeback from injury.

It's been a very difficult time for Elliott. Rewind to the start of the year and Jurgen Klopp was hailing him for being the team's 'best player' for a period.

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He ended the season on fire, too, and legitimately did look like a star. The feeling was that Elliott would explode past the other midfielders, pretty much all of whom were struggling for consistency.

But things have changed. As Elliott nears that comeback, the lay of the land is very different at Liverpool and it's questionable how he gets into the team.

The youngster has played just seven minutes this season, after all, as he wasn't getting games even before the injury. And is there even a decent way back in?

Harvey Elliott's first-team struggles

We wrote back in September that Curtis Jones had surged past Harvey Elliott in the pecking order. But even we didn't see just how quickly the Scouser would cement that position and become one of the best players in the team.

Similarly, Ryan Gravenberch is now up there with the first names on the teamsheet and competing with the world's best.

One of the problems with Gravenberch is that Elliott isn't even really competing with him anymore. The Dutchman is now the deepest midfielder in the team, sitting in a midfield two. Elliott isn't suited for either of those roles.

Instead, he'll want minutes as the No.10. It's an immediate issue for Elliott, who has essentially seen one of his possible positions cut from the team. Under Jurgen Klopp, Liverpool sat one midfielder deeper and then had two in front with a licence to go forward.

That's changed under Slot - there are now two deeper players with one advanced midfielder. Gravenberch and Jones thrive in that setup as they're versatile to play any of the roles.

Elliott isn't. He's only suited to being the No.10 and while we'd argue it's his best role, it's one fewer positions to occupy. And he's competing with £65m signing Dominik Szoboszlai for that place, as well as Jones.

The right-wing doesn't offer an outlet, either, given Mo Salah plays pretty much every game from the start. It really is just that No.10 role.

What we will say, though, is that if Elliott can break into the team, he should thrive in that role. No one has entirely locked it down, either, so the opportunity is there to make it his.

But it's a big ask and an incredibly difficult position to play.

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