In a perverse sort of way, Harvey Elliott was somewhat lucky when he suffered a dislocated ankle.
Fortunate, at least, in the sense that the horrendous injury came so early in his fledgling career as a Premier League footballer.
After succumbing under the weight of Leeds United's Pascal Struijk in a 3-0 win at Elland Road in September, Elliott, remarkably, tried to initially get up from the dislocation.
Realising the severity of the issue, Mohamed Salah was on the scene in a flash to keep him grounded before Liverpool's club doctor Jim Moxon rushed to his aid seconds later.
It was a distressing injury for everyone connected to the club, with Naby Keita, in particular, visibly upset in the away side's dugout.
Over four months on from the incident, Elliott is only just returning to the full training picture.
In a sense, though, that the awful setback came so early in his development, both as a footballer and as a man, is preferable to suffering the same fate years down the line when the body's natural ability to heal is not quite as strong.
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If that is the thin veil of positivity towards such an injury, however, the bad news is the mental impact a problem of this kind can have on someone so young.
After breaking into the senior side of his boyhood club, starting in three of the first four Premier League games, the sudden, shock derailing of his plans could easily have impacted Elliott worse than the injury itself.
As he lay in the hospital bed of Leeds General Infirmary on the evening of September 21, those intrusive thoughts may have been more difficult to overcome than the physical complications.
Jurgen Klopp appreciated that juxtaposition when the question was put to him at the AXA Training Centre in late November.
But the Reds boss has few concerns about a player he labelled as "an old soul".
"He has a foot injury and there are rusty mornings when you get up and it does feel rusty," Klopp said.
"But he is running outside now with full body weight on it, that is a good sign.
"When he will be back I have no idea. From a mental point of view, Harvey is rather an old soul, I would say he is very mature for a young age.
"He is completely fine with the situation, he has accepted it, he deals with it.
"Everybody around tries to help him. I think I must try and cheer him up some days, but it is rarely needed because he has a brilliant family at home and is a rather positive fella.
"And yes we all hope from a physical point of view a young age helps him to recover quickly but quickly is not so important. Fully is the main thing.
"At the moment, and I hope I don't eat my words, but I cannot see a scenario where we would think about rushing him back."
Elliott has worked closely with the club's rehab and fitness coach, David Rydings, since returning to light duties at the AXA Centre.
He has been on the pitches since before the start of December, going through the various steps of a lengthy rehab that the club want to ensure is completed 100 per cent.
Liverpool, as they tend to do around their long-term absentees, are refusing to place a timescale on when the 18-year-old will be able to make his Anfield comeback.
The beginning of March is viewed by some sources as a likely return to full fitness at this stage as the hard yards continue to be put in behind the scenes.
A social media video of a return to training on Tuesday night was accompanied by a short message from Elliott himself as he declared: "We back!"
Elliott was able to return to team training on Tuesday as the Reds were put through their paces ahead of Thursday's Carabao Cup semi-final with Arsenal at the Emirates.
But despite that positive development, he will be under no pressure to declare himself 100 per cent ready just yet.
Those at the club see little risk in pushing ahead with anything too soon, particularly for such a young player whose long-term future is so bright.
Sources have spoken of the need to ensure that every box is ticked in the recovery process and like Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk and Joel Matip last season, he will not be fast-tracked in an effort to have extra options available at the business end of the campaign.
As well as being afforded all the help he would ever need inside the club, Elliott's family, who moved with him when he made the switch from Fulham to Liverpool in 2019, are also a strong support network for him.
He therefore has all the tools available to him to make sure there are no lasting effects once he does declare himself fit again.
"Harvey Elliott looks really promising out on the pitch now," was Klopp's most recent update last week.
"He didn't train with the team yet, but I don't think he's too far away from team training.
"What he's doing at the moment looks really good."
Klopp's comments inevitably gave rise to speculation that Elliott was on the cusp of a first-team comeback, but that wait will go on for now as the medical staff continue to monitor the youngest Premier League player of all time.
Elliott will be a star at Anfield, but there is no appetite to make sure it happens any earlier than it should.
Now the hard work to regain a place in the team really begins.
