Liverpool have secured the signing of highly-rated Fulham midfielder Harvey Elliott.
Elliott became the youngest-ever player to feature in the Premier League last season when he featured for the Cottagers’ 1-0 defeat to Wolves in May.
Several of Europe’s leading clubs had been circling to add the 16-year-old to their ranks, including Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain and RB Leipzig.
But the Reds are said to have beaten their continental counterparts to Elliott’s signature after his schoolboy contract at Craven Cottage ended last month.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Fulham had hoped to retain the teenager’s services after offering him a taste of first-team football last season.
He made three senior appearances, beginning with September’s Carabao Cup win against Millwall which saw him become the club’s youngest-ever debutant.
Fulham manager Scott Parker described the Surrey-born player as ‘a sensation’ when asked about him in May.
“He’s been a sensation since he joined in training a few months ago,” Parker said at the time.
“He doesn’t look out of place and does some bits of magic that everyone says ‘wow’.
“His attitude and his belief in himself at such a young age is frightening.
“He’s got a great football brain, an eye for goal and is a very entertaining player.”
However Elliott is now expected to join the new European champions’ academy teams until he turns professional on his 17th birthday next April.
Liverpool have already made highly-rated Dutch defender Sepp van den Berg their first signing of the summer in a £1.3 million deal from PEC Zwolle.