‘He said...’ - James Pearce has ‘asked Klopp’ about recent snubbing of ‘fantastic’ Liverpool gem

Journalist James Pearce has explained Harvey Elliott’s recent omissions from Liverpool senior matchday squads, having spoken to Jurgen Klopp about the situation.

The Reds drew 2-2 away to Manchester City on Sunday afternoon as another thrilling Premier League clash between the pair took place at the Etihad Stadium.

Elliott wasn’t part of the occasion, though, with the 19-year-old left out of the squad entirely, despite being hailed as ‘fantastic’ by Ian Wright after his goalscoring return to action in February.

It isn’t the first time that the teenager has been snubbed by Klopp in recent weeks – his last appearance came against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup last month, while he hasn’t been in a league matchday squad since 12 March – and even though the midfielder has enjoyed a breakthrough season at Anfield, this omission may still have raised some eyebrows.

Writing in a Q&A for The Athletic before Sunday’s game, Pearce provided his thoughts on the situation, playing down any kind of potential issue between player and manager:

“I asked Klopp recently and he said it was just down to the sheer competition for places. Origi and Minamino not on the bench either.

“Plus, quite common for someone coming back from a bad injury to have a lively initial period back, adrenaline pumping etc, but then experience a lull. Elliott still has a big future at LFC.”

There is no need for this to be made into a bigger deal than it is, with Liverpool having no current injuries and therefore arguably the most impressive squad in the club’s history.

It is simply a case of Elliott not quite being deemed good enough to get into the matchday squad for a huge encounter – the same applies to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Divock Origi, for example –