Harvey Elliott has not played for Liverpool since suffering a serious ankle injury in September against Leeds.
Harvey Elliott was fortunate in a perverse way when he suffered a dislocated ankle.
At the very least, he was fortunate in that the heinous injury occurred so early in his fledgling Premier League career.
Elliott miraculously tried to get up after collapsing under the weight of Leeds United's Pascal Struijk in a 3-0 win at Elland Road in September.
Recognizing the gravity of the situation, Mohamed Salah rushed to the scene to keep him grounded before Liverpool's club doctor, Jim Moxon, arrived seconds later.
It was a traumatic injury for everyone associated with the club, with Naby Keita, in particular, visibly upset in the away team's dugout.
Elliott is only now returning to full training after being out for four months due to the incident.
In some ways, the fact that the calamitous setback occurred so early in his development as a footballer and as a man is preferable to suffering the same fate years later when the body's natural ability to heal is not as strong.
If that is the glimmer of hope for such an injury, the bad news is the mental impact such a problem can have on someone so young.
After breaking into his boyhood club's senior side and starting three of the first four Premier League games, Elliott's sudden, unexpected derailment of his plans could easily have impacted him more than the injury itself.
On the evening of September 21, as he lay in a hospital bed at Leeds General Infirmary, those intrusive thoughts may have been more difficult to overcome than the physical complications.
When asked about it at the AXA Training Centre in late November, Jurgen Klopp appreciated the juxtaposition.
However, the Reds manager is unconcerned about a player he describes as "an old soul."
"He has a foot injury, and there are some rusty mornings when you wake up, and it does feel rusty," Klopp explained.
"However, he is now running outside with his full body weight on it, which is a good sign."
I'm not sure when he'll return. "From a mental standpoint, Harvey is an old soul; I would say he is very mature for his young age." He's fine with the situation; he's accepted it and is dealing with it.
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