England 'lucky to have him'...but does Elliott's future lie away from Liverpool? | OneFootball

Liverpool's Harvey Elliott is second in the goal charts at the Under-21 European Championships after firing the Young Lions into their second back-to-back Euro final - but does the talented left-footer now need to leave Anfield to fulfil his potential?

The former Fulham academy graduate scored two brilliant goals on Wednesday, as Lee Carsley's side beat the Netherlands to reach the Euro U21 final - where they will face Germany on Saturday looking to successfully defend the title they won in 2023.

His brace moved Elliott into joint-second on the list of England’s most prolific Under-21 goal scorers - the Liverpool player now level with Alan Shearer  and Francis Jeffers on 13 goals, just behind record-holder Eddie Nketiah (16).

And he even made a bit of history: Elliott the only English player ever to score twice in a European U21 semi-final.

The 22-year-old now has four goals to his name at these Euros, behind only Stuttgart striker Nicke Woltemade, and his international manager Carsley spoke glowingly about the player following the midweek win over the Oranje.

"What I have seen is someone who is determined to play and get the minutes," said the former interim manager of England's senior side post-match. "He’s definitely built into the tournament, having not had much game time towards the end of the season.

“We’ve had to manage his minutes in terms of the amount he has played and the intensity he plays at. He’s so explosive with the way that he moves and with his end product. We are very lucky to have him.”

Elliott has shown his ability to impact games at the highest level for Liverpool, as his three Champions League goals last season (two of them matchwinners) demonstrated, but after racking up over 50 games for the Reds in Jurgen Klopp's farewell season at Anfield in 2023/24, he fell down the pecking order as Arne Slot inspired the Reds to the title last term.

In fact, Elliott clocked only 265 minutes of top flight football in 2024/25 - the playmaker taking a back seat while team-mate Curtis Jones enjoyed a breakthrough season for club and country.

With the big money signing of Florian Wirtz adding heavyweight competition for places at Anfield, game time could remain a problem for Elliott next season at Liverpool and his comments prior to the U21 Euros were telling.

“I don’t really want to be wasting years of my career because it’s a short career,” he said two weeks ago, prior to the start of the tournament.

“You don’t know what’s going to happen. I need to reflect. I want to improve and be the best possible version of myself. If that’s to go somewhere else, then it’s a decision I’m going to have to make.”

Given his stellar form out in Slovakia, Elliott will have no shortage of suitors this summer with the likes of Brighton and Crystal Palace both reportedly long-term admirers of his.

For now, Elliott's focus will be laser-trained on this Saturday's final...but he will undoubtedly have decisions to make regarding his future when the competition ends.