At the beginning of the campaign, many Liverpool fans were pleased to discover that Jurgen Klopp was planning to integrate Harvey Elliott into his senior squad for the new season.
It came after a standout spell on loan at Blackburn Rovers last year where he became a key member of their starting 11, finishing the term having scored seven goals whilst registering a further 11 assists.
It was expected that this year Elliott would act as Mohamed Salah’s understudy, given that the bulk of his senior minutes had came in a right-sided attacking role.
It was therefore a surprise to see him utilised by Klopp as a right-sided midfielder instead.
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He performed brilliantly in the role before his ankle injury early in the campaign, and has continued to do so since his return earlier this month.
Yet this versatility to his game shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Blackburn made full use of it last season with Elliott playing a number of different roles from as a right-winger, left-winger, attacking midfielder - and even as a false-nine.
The standard of his displays, particularly when playing as a false-nine, does raise a case for him to potentially be considered as an option to play that same role for Liverpool in these coming weeks, especially given that the club could be without talisman Diogo Jota.
Klopp confirmed in Friday’s press conference ahead of Saturday’s clash with Norwich that Jota would miss the game, and that more tests will be required to assess how long he’ll be out of the squad after picking up an injury in Wednesday’s Champions League victory over Inter Milan.
It was Roberto Firmino who replaced Jota at the San Siro, and many expect that’ll he will be the man to lead Liverpool’s line again in Jota's absence.
Yet Elliott’s credentials shouldn’t be overlooked.
And in many ways, he has a profile to thrive in such a role.
Although not a physically imposing talent - not many who play a false nine are - he’s got superb close control, is an excellent presser of the ball and can both score and create goals.
When playing the role for Rovers last season, he did a great job of dropping into valuable areas in between the opposition’s defence and midfield, linking play and creating openings for other attackers to exploit.
An example of that trait is above.
Elliott starts inside the box as the play beings to progress.
He then drops deep to receive the ball, in doing so bringing an opposition defender with him and freeing up space for his teammate on the last line of the defence.
This passage of play eventually lead to a goal for the Lancashire side.
Although Firmino’s efficiency leading Liverpool’s line means that there’s no pressure to deploy Elliott in the role, it wouldn’t be a huge shock to see Klopp experiment with him in there at some point this season.
And thriving in that position would add another string to the teenager's already impressive bow.
