Liverpool to ‘scout’ midfield pair who aim to upstage Khephren Thuram and Ryan Gravenberch

Kopites are likely to pay more attention to the European Under-21 Championships this year.

Notepads will be at the ready. Scout reports will be ensuing. There will no be casual viewing games for 15 minutes or so. There are four reasons to keep a keen eye on the proceedings in Romania and Georgia.

That is because four midfielders linked with a summer transfer to Liverpool will be in action.

On Wednesday evening, Bayern Munich's Ryan Gravenberch featured for Holland in their goalless draw against Belgium. Meanwhile, Gabri Veiga of Celta Vigo played in the engine room as Spain’s victory over Romania.

And on Thursday night, Khephren Thuram (Nice) and Manu Kone (Borussia (Mochengladbach) could line-up in the middle of the park when France face Italy.

Indeed, an exciting couple of weeks are ahead for Liverpool fans. Coming up with a preference of who Jurgen Klopp should sign and gauging how they'd fit into the system will all happen. Although the majority of the groundwork will have already been completed, the Reds supremo himself could be doing similar.

Yet Klopp won't be ignoring his own players who'll be on display for England. For all the talk of midfield signings, it's perhaps a tad harsh that Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott are being overlooked. In truth, if the pair were not already under contract at Liverpool then they may well be on the club's list of targets.

It proved a tale of two halves of the 2022-23 season for the pair. Elliott incredibly featured in the Reds' opening 41 games. He ended the campaign with 46 outings to his name, scoring five goals and two assists. Considering he's still only 20 and a large chunk of 2021-22 sidelined after a horrific leg break, those were numbers that Elliott could be satisfied with.

But, as things stand, it is Jones who's ahead in the Anfield pecking order. Before Liverpool's 0-0 draw at Chelsea on April 4, the 22-year-old had played been handed just 12 times. There was a mitigating factor of a stress injury in his right tibia that meant he had two separate periods on the treatment table. But even when fit, Jones struggled to break into Klopp's plans.

However, a change in formation in the final 11 games of the season meant that Jones was one of the main beneficiaries. He started every match, bagging three goals to help Liverpool catapult themselves up the Premier League and secure a fifth-place finish. Even Jones' previous doubters had been won over. Having shown an abundance of promise coming through the academy ranks and when he made a first-team breakthrough, consistency was finally dovetailing with his mercurial talent.

Jones and Elliott will be well aware that the Reds are in the market for another midfielder before the transfer window closes. Having already signed Alexis Mac Allister for £35 million from Brighton, further competition is set to arrive.

Yet the pair have the perfect opportunity to prove that they can perform to the same calibre of Gravenberch, Veiga, Thuram and Kone.