Two Liverpool wingers heading in opposite directions faced off in the Championship on Saturday as Harry Wilson's Cardiff City drew 2-2 with Harvey Elliott's Blackburn Rovers.
Both of the host's goals at the Cardiff City Stadium were assisted by Wilson, with Elliott setting up Adam Armstrong's first of a brace.
Wilson's first assist was from a cleverly-worked free-kick as he nudged the ball to one side for Will Vaulks to strike; his second was a through-ball for Joe Ralls.
Elliott, meanwhile, got his assist for a nicely-weighted pass into Armstrong inside the penalty area, with the forward forcing a strike past goalkeeper Alex Smithies, before being substituted in the second half.
But while Wilson outshone Elliott on the day - and another Liverpool-owned winger in Sheyi Ojo remained on the Cardiff bench - they are no longer heading in the same direction.
For Wilson, his future, despite once being seemingly destined to make it at Anfield as a senior Liverpool player almost certainly lies away from Jurgen Klopp.
The Welshman should be a Premier League player when the 2021/22 season kicks off, but it will be somewhere other than Liverpool that he likely finds his next home.
After a series of loan spells, Wilson has never managed to convince Klopp at Liverpool and would have moved on permanently last summer had the pandemic not prevented those interested in his signature from matching his valuation.
This summer, Liverpool will not get the £20m they had hoped for last season, but it might be time for a move away regardless and bolster their summer budget as best they can before his value depreciates further.
Cardiff boss Mick McCarthy admitted that his side are unlikely to be keeping Wilson next season - they would have needed to be back in the top flight to have any realistic hope of that - but who else might be keen remains to be seen.
"We’ve got players on loan who are very unlikely they’ll be coming back," McCarthy said this weekend.
As well as Wilson, that also includes Ojo, who has five goals and seven assists for Cardiff this season and is another who is likely to move on permanently when he returns to Anfield and will turn 24 this summer.
While Wilson and Ojo are not likely to be at Cardiff nor Liverpool next season, Elliott is a different story.
Had Xherdan Shaqiri moved on last summer with Liverpool having set a £20m-plus price-tag, then the former Fulham starlet would have taken his place, and the logical assumption is that the plan remains 12 months on.
After a largely stellar season as a 17 or 18 year-old in the Championship - in which he has 16 goal contributions in 36 league appearances - a squad role under Klopp next season beckons.
He might have been outshone by Wilson - himself once the teenage prodigy in prime position to make it at Liverpool - on Saturday, but Elliott is clearly better positioned long-term to make his Anfield dream come true.
