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Arne Slot promotes Liverpool youngster to first-team training after Harvey Elliott blow

Arne Slot has already promoted a Liverpool youngster to first-team training after Harvey Elliott sustained a broken foot.

The 21-year-old midfielder has been ruled out for up to six weeks after suffering a fractured foot during international duty with England Under-21s last week, ruling him out of the clashes with Northern Ireland and Austria.

It's been reported that Elliott picked up the injury during a training session, and was immediately sent back to the AXA Training Center for further evaluation. Now, he is expected to be out until after the next international break in October.

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Although Elliott hasn't been a regular this season, being restricted to just seven minutes of action in three Premier League games, Liverpool's compact schedule on its return from the international break means he will be sorely missed.

But Slot has already acted on the youngsters absence by promoting another player to the first-team, ensuring he will have plenty of options to pick from when rotation becomes a much more serious matter over the next few weeks.

Liverpool U-21 captain, Tom Hill, was a surprise addition to Liverpool's UEFA Champions League squad last week but was one of three players to be included from the club's academy, along with Amara Nallo and Trey Nyoni.

The 21-year-old, who made his professional debut for Liverpool all the way back in December 2019 as a starter in the 5-0 loss away to Aston Villa in the EFL Cup quarter-finals, has now been given another major opportunity to impress.

But perhaps first-team duties will come naturally to him, having started the new campaign in impressive form with a goal and an assist from central midfield in the opening two games of the Premier League 2 season.

Hill is quite a late bloomer to the first-team squad, however, with Klopp not giving him the same opportunities as a lot of other Academy stars during his tenure. That, in part, is most likely due to a serious ACL injury that hampered the midfielder's development.

Hill did make the bench for Liverpool's Europa League group stage clash against Union SG last season, but it has otherwise been slim pickings for him when it comes to first-team action. He even failed to be named in the pre-season squad for the summer tour of the United States.

Now, however, Hill has a major chance to prove himself if Slot opts to use him as Elliott's temporary replacement in the squad, meaning a substitute appearance here and there could be likely as Liverpool prepare to play seven games in just three weeks once the season resumes this weekend.