Liverpool win race to sign Fulham teenager Elliott

The England Under-17s midfielder Harvey Elliott, the youngest player to feature in the Premier League, is to join Liverpool this summer, having had the pick of Europe’s leading clubs since rejecting a scholarship at Fulham.

Elliott, who will not be able to turn professional until his 17th birthday in April, was pursued by many in the Premier League as well as Real Madrid, Paris St-germain and RB Leipzig before deciding that he would join Liverpool this month, his schoolboy association with Fulham having ended in June.

One of the most highly rated 16-year-old players in the country, he was not among the new cohort of first-year scholars announced by Fulham last week. There will be a significant compensation package for his former club.

There has been interest across Europe in the 2003-born England Under-17s team. Like his most sought-after peers, Elliott will be offered a package that will see him move from the scholarship wages on to a professional deal as soon as he is old enough to sign one. The maximum length professional deal a 17-year-old can sign is three years.

Elliott made his debut for Fulham last September in the EFL Cup aged 15 years and 174 days, the club’s youngest first-team debutant. In the Premier League in May he was a late substitute against Wolves – the youngest ever at 16 years and 30 days. The club had hoped that their commitment to fast-tracking Elliott would persuade him to stay.