SCOTT Parker believes exciting duo Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho will have a "big future" at Liverpool, having given them their first chances in the Premier League at Fulham.
The pair could come up against Parker and Cherries tomorrow at Anfield (3pm), having both featured against Manchester United on Monday night.
Winger Elliott, 19, debuted for Fulham as a 15-year-old under Slavisa Jokanovic, becoming the EFL Cup's youngest ever player.
Later that season, with Parker now at the helm, Elliott made his Premier League bow, to also become the youngest player in that competition's history, aged just 16 years and 30 days when coming on against Wolves at Molineux.
Elliott would only feature once more for the Cottagers, on the final day of the season, before moving on to Liverpool in the summer of 2019.
Despite a serious leg injury along the way, the talented teenager has since played 24 times for the Reds' first team, including every league game this season, as well as spending a fruitful season out on loan at Blackburn Rovers. During that campaign in the Championship, Elliott scored seven goals and provided 11 assists in 41 league outings.
"He was a fantastic player," Parker told the Daily Echo, discussing his time working with Elliott.
"Obviously gave him his (league) debut, I think one of the youngest players to make his Premier League debut really.
"I saw the quality instantly when he came in with us really. He was a 15 or 16-year-old boy, straightaway brought him into the environment of the first team and you’re always conscious or worried to see how you go from youth football, where you’re always playing in your same age, you’re always referencing against people that are your same age.
"And then you come into men’s football, where obviously there’s experience, there’s age difference, there’s weights, there’s strength, there’s quality.
"As soon as Harvey came in, I could tell at that moment while he was probably underdeveloped, that technically his football brain and how he worked, he was able to survive really.
"So it doesn’t surprise me that he obviously went on to Liverpool and has had a massive role to play there. And I’m sure will have a big future there really. He’s a quality player."
Another player Parker blooded in during his time at Fulham was Carvalho.
The Portuguese ace, 19, really came into his own under Marco Silva in the Championship last season, but his first taste of senior action was under Parker's stewardship in the 2020-21 campaign.
The attacking midfielder also debuted in the EFL Cup, in September 2020, before his Premier League bow came as a substitute away to Chelsea in May 2021. He went on to start three times in the top flight before the end of the season, notably scoring in defeat at Southampton.
His 10 goals and eight assists in 36 Championship appearances last term saw Liverpool swoop to sign him up this summer, where he has already played four times.
Asked about Carvalho, Parker said: "Same again probably, Fabio fits into that bracket. Probably a little bit later, Fabio, than what Harvey was.
"I saw Fabs with us and around us, but we took probably a little bit more time to bring him in and give him his chance.
"He was training with us a lot and then obviously gave him that chance. As soon as I put him in, again he was a player that grabbed that opportunity.
"And, again, someone that is probably slight in physique but has a football brain.
"The intensity he works at, athletically how good he is and the quality he has, he can survive at this level.
"Hence why now he’s move on to Liverpool and again no doubt he’ll have a big future there really."
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