The England Under-17s midfielder Harvey Elliott, the youngest player ever to feature in the Premier League, is to join Liverpool this summer having had the pick of Europe’s leading clubs since rejecting a scholarship at Fulham.

Elliott, who will not be able to turn professional until his 17th birthday next April, was pursued by many in the Premier League as well as the likes of Real Madrid, Paris Saint Germain and RB Leipzig before deciding that he would join Liverpool this month, his schoolboy association with Fulham having ended in June.

One of the most highly-rated 16-year-old players in the country, he was not among the new cohort of first-year scholars announced by Fulham last week. There will be a significant compensation package for his former club which will have to be agreed with Liverpool.

There has been considerable interest across Europe in the 2003-born England Under-17s team with Elliott’s international team-mate Louie Barry, a 16-year-old at West Bromwich Albion the subject of a battle between PSG and Barcelona. Like his most sought-after peers, Elliott will be offered a package that will see him move from the scholarship wages on to a professional deal as soon as he is old enough to sign one. The maximum length professional deal a 17-year-old can sign is three years.

Fulham’s academy has been particularly successful in producing players in recent years. They sold Patrick Roberts to Manchester City in 2015, a deal worth around £12 million when the England junior international was 18. Ryan Sessegnon, 19, is expected to move to a Premier League club this summer.

Elliott made his debut for Fulham last September in the EFL Cup aged just 15 years and 174 days credit: Getty Images

Elliott made his debut for Fulham last September in the EFL Cup aged just 15 years and 174 days, the club’s youngest ever first team debutant.

In the Premier League in May he was a late substitute against Wolverhampton Wanderers – the youngest-ever at 16 years and 30 days breaking the previous record held by another Fulham player, Matthew Briggs.

The club had hoped that their commitment to fast-tracking Elliott into the first team would see him stay for his scholarship first year and his first professional contract but he rejected their offer.