Arne Slot issues message to Harvey Elliott amid Liverpool transfer speculation

Arne Slot has declined to comment on rumors connecting Harvey Elliott with a departure from Liverpool but acknowledged that the midfielder has expressed frustration over his limited playing time this season.

Elliott has yet to start a Premier League match this year and was left on the bench during Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest. The England Under-21 international has only started two games so far, one against Southampton in the Carabao Cup and another in the recent 4-0 win over Accrington Stanley in the FA Cup.

The former Fulham player has played only 43 minutes in the Premier League this season, with a foot injury in September causing a nearly three-month absence between early September and late November.

Earlier this month, Elliott was rumored to be a target for both Brighton & Hove Albion and Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund. While Slot did not elaborate on these speculations, he suggested it “would be weird” if the 21-year-old were entirely content with his current role in the squad.

“The last thing you asked (about Elliott’s game-time) is completely sure,” Slot remarked. “It would be weird if he would come to me and say: ‘I’m so happy with the playing time I have at the moment.’ But the first thing you ask me (about transfer rumors) is the same answer every single time.

“We don’t talk about rumors regarding players in contract talks or players linked with other clubs. That he wants to play more is natural because if he were happy with his current situation, that would be the wrong thing.

“But every single day he is working as hard as he can. But like Federico [Chiesa]—because many people ask about him, who is in competition with Mo Salah—Harvey is in competition with four or five very good midfielders, you may agree with me or not.

“And I like the way we played in the last 20-25 minutes at Forest, so that for me is not a reason to change. If you want to bring that moment back, we played quite well in the first hour but we didn’t create many chances, so I made a substitution.

“I put Ryan Gravenberch as a centre-back and took Ibou (Ibrahima Konate) out because I wanted to create more chances. But when we created a lot of chances, I didn’t see it necessary to make another change because we were all waiting for a goal.”

Elliott is expected to be part of the squad for Saturday’s match against Brentford.