It's fair to say Harvey Elliott is living the dream right now.
No sooner after completing an impressive pre-season audition under the watchful eye of Jurgen Klopp and Pep Lijnders has the teenager signed a new five-year contract at Liverpool, signalling just how much faith is being placed in the former Fulham scholar by the club's hierarchy.
Having made the switch from down south in 2019, the midfielder has made no secret of his precious love for the club he so often used to watch from the Anfield stands with his dad, Scott, and even travelled all the way to Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2018 to support Mohamed Salah and Co in the Champions League final.
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His meteoric rise since moving from west London was once again underlined as he followed in the footsteps of Salah, Joe Gomez and Diogo Jota in penning fresh terms on Merseyside this summer. However, the 19-year-old's extension may have come as a surprise to many given that he has only played 641 minutes of senior football since signing his previous deal last summer.
Obviously, Elliott's development last campaign was skewed by an ankle ligament injury he suffered in September after a challenge from Leeds United defender Pascal Struijk at Elland Road, leaving the midfielder sidelined until February. But as the opportunity of cementing his position in the Reds' midfield was cruelly snatched away from him, it was during his rehabilitation period that he was able to demonstrate endless maturity beyond his years and impress those at the AXA Training Centre.
“Probably his biggest talent is how ready mentally he is out there,” said Klopp after Elliott marked his comeback with a stunning Kop end goal against Cardiff in February. “He is a kid, yes, but on the pitch not so much.
“When he got the injury, the next day or two days later I saw him at the training ground and I was in a worse mood than he was. He was like, ‘Come on boss, head up, I will be back’. He is an exceptional talent in a lot of departments.”
However, the 'wise head on young shoulders' mantra has been a constant theme during his time at Anfield and has seen him form a close relationship with Salah, with Elliott making no secret of his desire to replicate the Egyptian superstar's success.
“He’s been a great asset to this club, he’s got us to so many finals by scoring winning goals, important goals," said Elliott in May. "He’s a great person to learn off and I’ve tried to get really close to him for the small details so I can be up there with him one day. It’s going to be very hard, to say the least. He’s a great player and very willing to help me out if it’s needed."
Although Salah is usually reluctant to speak to the media and therefore his relationship with the Reds' 19-year-old prodigy has subsequently been kept fairly private from his side, the Egyptian can often be seen mentoring Elliott at Liverpool's training base in Kirkby - whether that be in the gym or on the field.
In fact, it was during the Reds' 28-day training camp in Austria last summer that a then 18-year-old Elliott sought the nutritional advice of the 30-year-old forward, according to Lijnders. "Yesterday, I also heard a story that Mo and Harvey Elliott were sitting with each other in the dining area," the Reds' assistant manager told Liverpoolfc.com.
"Harvey had some bread and some fruit on his plate and Mo asked him how many slices of bread he’d already had that day. Harvey said one and Mo told him to only eat the fruit!
"Harvey told me, ‘I’m always learning from these guys!’ We have so many players who are helping the younger players and the new ones – you feel all the way through this camp that the talents are integrating, and I like that a lot."
Positionally, the two players appear to have been cut from the same cloth and their similarities are often on display when they line up simultaneously on the right-hand side of Liverpool's 4-3-3, with Elliott - a winger by trade - frequently replicating Salah's movements in the attacking third as he too looks to unlock defences with his distinct left foot.
Yet it was Elliott's unforeseen rise during a spell on loan at Blackburn Rovers that forced Klopp to draw up another doorway into his starting XI for the teenager, who finished the campaign in the Championship with an outstanding tally of seven goals and eleven assists.
Short-term there is no doubting where the youngster's position lies as he looks set for a prolonged spell in the Reds' midfield following the injury Thiago Alcantara sustained during Saturday's draw with Fulham, starting with Crystal Palace on Monday. However in the long-term, as Elliott continues to build himself out in the gym and athletically, he could explore a switch back to the right side of attack once Salah's days on Merseyside are over.
In the meantime, in Elliott's own words, he will continue to learn from the Egyptian in the gym in a bid to taste the same revolutionary success Salah has enjoyed since his switch from Roma in 2017.
"They've all helped me along the way, but I think more Salah and Hendo to be fair," Elliott told LFCTV on Thursday afternoon when asked who has mentored him the most at Anfield thus far. "Just because I’ve been playing on that right side now, so it's more kind of in their positions and around their playing qualities.
"For me, it’s those two who have helped me out, brought me aside and said 'you need to do this' or 'you can try this'. Especially Mo, he’s always giving me different things to work on, telling me to follow him in the gym so he can help me out along the way.”
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