Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott: Why Chelsea rejected me

Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott admits he did not make the grade at Chelsea due to being too small.

The 21-year-old has found a home at Anfield and is a key member of the first team squad.

While the diminutive winger is known for his trickery and pace, coaching staff at Chelsea felt he was not big enough to make the grade.

So I was at a few clubs when I was younger. I was at Chelsea when I was a kid, and they released me because they said I was too small," he told The Reds Roundtable.

And then I was just playing with my friends for a year, like Sunday League, [when I was] 11, 12. I was at Fulham, like a pre-academy thing, like you go sometimes, once a week, twice a week, to train, but I didn't really enjoy it.

But then Fulham contacted my father and said 'look, I hear he hasn't got a club, does he want to come for a trial?'. Then I went for a trial at Fulham when I was 13 and then [was there] up until 16 when I left."

I remember them saying that technically I was one of the best in the group, but I was too small," he told the We Are Liverpool Podcast last year.

I don't think I've felt anything like that in my football career so far in terms of how I felt after they said that. Being a young kid knowing you can't get that opportunity to play or get signed.

I thought I was finished, and I wasn't going to have a football career."