RB Leipzig are set to ramp up their efforts to sign Harvey Elliott from Liverpool in the final 12 days of the summer transfer window.
The 22-year-old has been linked with an exit from Anfield for several months, with David Lynch recently reporting that the England under-21 star has reluctantly ‘accepted his fate’ that he’s unlikely to break into Arne Slot’s preferred starting XI.
The attacking midfielder featured for only six minutes in the Community Shield (in which he was thwarted by Dean Henderson in the penalty shootout) and didn’t even make it off the bench in the win over Bournemouth last week, which doesn’t bode well for his prospects of game-time this season.
Leipzig readying an offer for Elliott
According to sources close to Empire of the Kop, RB Leipzig are now preparing to submit an offer in the region of €30m (£25.9m) for Elliott, who Liverpool value at €40m (£34.5m), with that disparity potentially being bridged through structured payments and add-ons.
The Bundesliga side have reached an advanced stage in negotiations over personal terms with the 22-year-old, and a verbal agreement is already in place, with the discussion now centred about a transfer fee.
The player is understood to be keen on the move, which’d offer him a greater chance of regular game-time, and his agents are working on a four-year deal which’d earn him an annual salary of between €3m and €4m (£2.6m-£3.4m), a notable increase on his current wage of just over £2m per year (Capology).
Liverpool face big dilemma if Leipzig make offer for Elliott
It’d be hard to begrudge Elliott the opportunity to play regularly at Leipzig when he’s found game-time hard to come by under Slot, having featured for only 845 minutes since the Dutchman replaced Jurgen Klopp in the summer of 2024.
Liverpool paid a compensation fee of £1.5m to Fulham after signing him in 2019, with a further £2.8m in contingent amounts dependent on player performance (liverpoolfc.com), so a deal in the region of £30m-£35m would ensure another healthy profit on a player they recruited as a teenager.
From a business sense, it’d seem like a logical move to grant the 22-year-old an exit to Germany, especially if the Reds’ valuation could be met by various add-ons.
However, the worry for LFC supporters is that selling Elliott might leave the squad worryingly light in the final third, with Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez and Ben Gannon Doak already being sold this summer, on top of the tragic loss of Diogo Jota in early July.
Signing Alexander Isak would go a long way towards remedying concerns over attacking depth, although Newcastle remain adamant that they won’t be parting with the Swedish striker too readily, despite his explosive social media statement on Tuesday.
It’s a difficult call to make for Liverpool. We can only hope that, whatever decision is taken, it’ll turn out to be a smart one in hindsight.
Unless we get over £40m, I see no world where we let Elliott leave. With Doak, Diaz and Nunez having moved on, with no prospect of getting Isak in. We need attacking options. Elliott is massively underrated, especially when you see some of the perched puts in for us and England. He is worth far more to us in the squad that getting a paltry sum for him.
Keep the faith Harvey, don’t give up on your dream. YNWA
If he stays he won’t get much game time, that was proved last season under slot who likes to stick with the same players and doesn’t use the full squad. It also seems to me that FSG are looking to sell as many as possible to raise funds for two more signings. A central defender and another attacking player. Unfortunately Elliott like Jones hasn’t done enough to stay in the starting eleven. Decent but not good enough.
Nobody is talking about the low 2m/y salary he is earning. That is below 40k weekly. If true, that would be a crime under the EPL.
Is there a buy back clause?