Harvey Elliott's loan spell has been one of the few bright sparks for Liverpool this season, with the English midfielder shining on loan at Blackburn Rovers.
Elliott has starred in the Championship, registering four goals and nine assists, with him being the leader in assists in the second tier of English football.
This has led to calls for him to be in Liverpool's squad next season, especially with a large number of forwards at the club from Merseyside underperforming.
Echo beat writer Ian Doyle was joined by David Lynch on the Echo's Blood Red podcast, discussing Liverpool's plans for the young playmaker.
Doyle claimed "I fully expect that next season he will be back at Liverpool and challenging for a first-team place."
"He will initially be support to Mohamed Salah and I know it is a huge shout at this stage, but I genuinely think he is that talented that he could be the long-term replacement for Salah."
Responding to these comments, Lynch shed some light on Liverpool's thoughts behind the decision to loan Elliott to Blackburn this season.
"The idea initially was to keep (Harvey Elliott) around this season and give him minutes," Lynch said.
"Liverpool thought that Xherdan Shaqiri was going to go, but it didn't work out that way because of coronavirus."
If Elliott is to get a place in the first-team squad at Liverpool, it will be at the expense of other midfielders for sure, particularly Shaqiri, who has failed to nail down a spot in the team, having to settle for cameo appearances from off the bench.
Shaqiri has made just 11 appearances in the Premier League this season, and in the four starts that he has made in the league, Liverpool have struggled massively, picking up four points out of the 12 available.
Additionally, the future of Takumi Minamino is also in doubt, and whilst the Japanese international has impressed so far during his loan spell with Southampton, he is being linked with a permanent move away after failing to hit the ground running with Liverpool.
With Salah's future being uncertain as well, it will be interesting to see what Elliott's role at the club will be next season.
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