Despite Liverpool missing out on Champions League qualification, the 2022/23 season is one that Harvey Elliott will recall with fond memories.
It may not have reached the heights of his impressive debut campaign on Merseyside which ended with a Premier League winners' medal draped around his neck in July 2020, or yielded the same excitement as the Reds' unprecedented quadruple chase two years later when he found himself bearing the responsibility of a penalty kick against Chelsea in the League Cup final shootout at Wembley, for that matter.
Though after 46 appearances across five different competitions, it's a campaign where the young midfielder will have learned enormous amounts about his own quality and temperament. That is despite being overlooked by manager Jurgen Klopp in 10 of the final 11 Premier League outings.
But to truly understand the size of Elliott's impact on an, at times, uninspiring Liverpool side, it is worth noting that he was involved in 41 consecutive matchday squads across last season between the months of August and April.
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Fittingly enough, it was only on his 20th birthday that he was afforded a well-deserved break by Klopp as he remained on Merseyside while the rest of his team-mates played out a drab goalless affair with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on April 4.
Waiting in the wings that night was Curtis Jones, who was handed a rare starting berth. That night in West London he lined up alongside Fabinho and Jordan Henderson and turned in a robust 79-minute outing in what was just his second start of an injury-hit season.
In the short term, that night appeared to be a sliding doors moment for both players as Jones, off the back of his robust showing in the capital, retained his place in the XI for title-chasing Arsenal’s visit to Anfield just five days later. His Anfield counterpart, meanwhile, was deemed surplus to requirements in the following four games before returning to Klopp’s plans for the seven-goal thriller against Tottenham Hotspur.
A lively showing against the North Londoners, in a game that was won by the brilliance of Diogo Jota right at the death, was Elliott's final crowning moment of a stellar breakthrough campaign; just as had been the case during home victories against Manchester United and Manchester City months earlier.
But fast forward three months and the arrivals of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai on Merseyside had the possibility to be viewed as an obstacle in Elliott’s path next season. However, the combined £95m outlay should instead be admired as a double dealing that will allow Liverpool to harvest the best out of the 20-year-old next term.
As it stands, the 22-year-old Hungarian, who signed on the dotted lines at the AXA Training Centre earlier this month after Liverpool moved swiftly to activate his £60m release clause at RB Leipzig, is primed to start the new season as the Reds' first-choice right-sided midfielder, while Elliott and Henderson will offer alternative options for Klopp.
Hypothetically, that should allow Elliott to continue his development in a less demanding fashion, with Liverpool not only set to boast a fully functioning midfield from August onwards but one that gloats plenty of strings to its bow, too.
In fact, the staggering demands placed on Elliott over the last 12 months stand in stark contrast to Phil Foden's careful bedding into Manchester City's senior ranks under Pep Guardiola. In a more staggered fashion, it took the England international until his third season as a senior member of City's squad to amass more than 46 games (Elliott's total for 2022/23).
Since doing so in the 2019/2020 campaign, Foden has blossomed under the stewardship of Guardiola and established himself as a vital component of a dominant Manchester City side that won three Premier League titles in a row, before June saw them complete the first Treble in English football since 1999.
And while it would be unjust to compare the two Englishman who ply their trade at either side of East Lancs Road, Guardiola has demonstrated why less is sometimes more in the development of youngsters eager to make their mark in the Premier League.
Of course, there is no denying that additions to the Reds' engine room were necessary at Anfield this summer, but Elliott is here to stay.
