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Elliott causes LFC keepers nightmares in training with the 'pace and such precision' of his finishing

The finishing of Harvey Elliott, Rhian Brewster and Curtis Jones in Liverpool’s first-team training sessions is of an exceptional standard, according to assistant goalkeeping coach Jack Robinson.

All three have started to make an impression on senior football this season in varying capacities.

Brewster is out on loan at Swansea and was scoring goals before football was curtailed.

Jones scored a stunner against Everton in the FA Cup and has been so good that Jurgen Klopp will not replace Adam Lallana when the Englishman departs and instead give Jones a chance to thrive.

Elliott, at only 16-years-old, got a start for the Reds in both the EFL Cup and the FA Cup and has an exceptionally high potential ceiling – so long as he continues his development and focuses on what needs to be done to become a success.

“You sort of get an idea for how good they are, but then you put them into the environment that they’ve had with Vitor and the first team, and with the finishing sessions that Pep and Pete put on as well, they are a nightmare,” Robinson told the official website.

“They hit the ball with such pace and such precision. It’s a real test for our goalkeepers – but that’s what we want as well.

“We want them to test our goalkeepers because, ultimately, when they step out on the pitch, they’re going to come up against the best players in the world – whether that’s with the U23s or with our first team in the league or Champions League. We want them to be tested in training as well.

“For us, it’s great. They have to try to score past Alisson, who is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. We have to try to stop them scoring as well.

“It’s a good process in both ways, but it can get competitive at times as well!”

There’s a chance Elliott and Jones might get a few games towards the end of this season, if Liverpool wrap up the title early.

Klopp will still field strong teams, but there’ll be no harm in allowing the pair some minutes off the bench – especially if games are already won.

Klopp fell in love with ‘little diamond’ after first training session

Jurgen Klopp believes Liverpool have a star for many years to come in the shape of “little” Harvey Elliott, according to the German’s trusted assistant Pep Lijnders.

The 17-year-old moved to Anfield from Fulham last summer in a deal still to be settled and for a fee that could reach a record sum.

And Elliott has already made his mark on Anfield, having featured seven times for the first team this season and leading both Klopp and former Under-23s manager Neil Critchley to lavish wholesome praise on the teenager.

And now in an interview with Liverpool’s official website, Lijnders has revealed how soon Elliott caught the eye of the Liverpool manager, with the midfielder also appearing on their bench in the Club World Cup and Super Cup finals.

“So, this is a quick interview with our ‘little diamond’ of the team, Harvey Elliott,” said Lijnders.

“I am looking forward to it and I will try to get more to know about him and to show what a good kid he is. He is a great player, which everybody sees, but behind that is a great human being – and a great addition to our team and our squad. So, let’s start!

“Training at Melwood, was there one moment in this last half-year where you thought, ‘Wow! This goes really quick!’?”

Elliott replied: “I think it was my first training session.

“Obviously the full squad wasn’t there, but stepping through the doors and seeing all the lockers was a real moment for me. Then onto the pitch and the tempo of training and the quality of the players… I was like, ‘Wow!’”

Lijnders then recalled his and Klopp’s first impression of the youngster.

“You speak about your first session. I remember coming back into Melwood and me and Jurgen were sitting and both said, ‘OK… that’s quite impressive for a 16-year-old!’.

“Normally when we do the counter-press rondo we did that day, you see straight away if a player can handle the speed and decision-making because it’s such a short space you play our game in.”

Elliott added that Klopp was “any player’s dream to play under”.

In other Liverpool news, Saturday’s Paper Talk claims the Reds have turned their attentions towards an impressive Lazio man as an alternative to Timo Werner this summer.