Florian Wirtz’ record-breaking arrival could trigger the end for one Liverpool star

Brighton & Hove Albion have emerged as the leaders in the race to sign in-demand Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott this summer.

The England Under-21 international is currently enjoying a fine summer at the Under-21 Euros with Lee Carsley’s men after netting a goal in a 3-1 quarter-final victory over Spain while also finding the net in a win over Czech Republic by the same scoreline during the group stage of the competition. He’s scored twice in the tournament already and has helped his nation reach a semi-final as he aims to win two European Championships in a row at Under-21 level.

Elliott is arguably one of the best young players at that tournament and an outside contender to sneak into Thomas Tuchel’s senior team in 12 months time during the World Cup in North America. However, he’s found first team football harder to come by under Arne Slot and could find himself with an even more difficult task to play after Liverpool’s record-breaking £116m capture of Florian Wirtz from Bayer Leverkusen.

Harvey Elliott likely to move this summer

Harvey Elliott has made 147 appearances for Liverpool since arriving from Fulham as a teenager in 2019 and has been in around the first team since 2021 when he returned from a successful one season loan spell at Blackburn Rovers. Elliott started out as a skilful right-sided winger but has transitioned into more of a central attacking midfield player when playing in the top-flight.

He enjoyed his most fruitful season to date under Jurgen Klopp in the German’s final campaign before stepping down from management. Elliott played 53 matches, scored four and contributed 14 assists. He made 11 league starts and played the full 120 minutes of the League Cup final win over Chelsea.

But last term he failed to push on, making 28 appearances and only starting two top-flight matches after the title triumph had already been confirmed. Elliott failed to get many minutes ahead of the first choice trio of Ryan Gravenberch, Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister and is likely to be surplus to requirements after Wirtz move from Germany.

With Liverpool likely to be in the market for a centre-back such as Marc Guehi or Murillo as well as a forward such as Hugo Ekitike, it’s expected Liverpool could look to sell Elliott to raise valuable funds. Earlier this month, the versatile midfielder insisted he doesn’t want to “waste his career” and hinted a move away could be the answer.

How much are Brighton willing to spend on Harvey Elliott?

The Seagulls finished in eighth position last season after spending almost £200m on new recruits during the summer of 2024 and are prepared to spend big once again to try and break into the Europa League places.

Football Insider claims Brighton could spend around £40m to try and entice Elliott to the Amex Stadium which would match the club-record fee that they spent to sign Georginio Rutter from Leeds United in the previous summer.

Wolves, after the sale of Matheus Cunha to Manchester United, are also credited with interest as they try and bounce back from the Brazilian’s departure while Champions League side Newcastle are also thought to be considering a possible swoop, as per the Chronicle.