Harvey Elliott’s Aston Villa nightmare is almost over, but there’s still at least one more awkward outing to endure.
Tomorrow night (Friday), he’ll watch from the sidelines as the two clubs who between them pay his wages — yet do not consider him an option for first-team duty in their shirt — battle it out for a spot in next season’s Champions League.
Due to the conditions of Elliott’s season-long loan, he’s ineligible to face his parent club Liverpool in the fixture at Villa Park, although that’s far from the biggest concern. After this failed spell at Villa, where he has played just 277 minutes in total, the 23-year-old will head back to Merseyside at the end of the season.
Arne Slot told reporters at his press conference today that Elliott is “contracted to us so he’ll be with us for the start of the season” but ultimately he faces another summer of uncertainty.
Elliott needs to understand Liverpool’s plans and whether, with just a year of his contract remaining, he has any chance of competing for a place in next season’s squad. His move to Villa on deadline day last September was recognised as the end of a six-year spell at Anfield, and at no point since have Liverpool considered an early recall as the loan’s agreed terms — largely put in place to suit Villa’s battle with profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) — do not include a break clause.
Finding another club should not be difficult, but the importance of picking the right move is far greater now after a season in the wilderness.
Germany’s RB Leipzig are still admirers of Elliott but have other priorities, including turning the loan for fellow attacking midfielder Brajan Gruda into a permanent move from Brighton & Hove Albion. Elliott’s high wages may also be an issue, and that could put off other clubs.
The only clarity at this point is that Villa are not interested — and haven’t been since November — in signing him permanently, after purposely keeping him out of the team to avoid triggering an appearance-related £35million obligation to buy.
Harvey Elliott on a rare outing for Villa against Lille in March (Ian Cook – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Had Elliott made 10 Premier League appearances, the move would have turned from temporary to permanent, a scenario all parties anticipated when he signed.
Yet manager Unai Emery lost faith early on and quickly began to freeze him out of the Premier League picture. He has featured sparingly in Villa’s run to next week’s Europa League final, but hasn’t been seen on the pitch for them since March 19, when he was an 84th-minute substitute in the second leg of a 3-0 round-of-16 win against French side Lille.
Elliott has made nine appearances for the Birmingham club in all competitions, including a single Premier League start, and is unlikely to improve on that with just two matches of their season remaining after Friday’s meeting with Liverpool.
To label this year as a disappointment is an understatement, given he went out on loan with the idea of pushing for a place in England’s World Cup squad after starring for the under-21s as they won their age-group European Championship last summer.
Elliott started only twice in his 18 Premier League appearances for Liverpool last season and knew his minutes would be reduced in this one after a busy summer where Florian Wirtz was signed to strengthen head coach Arne Slot’s attacking midfield options. He also believed in the project at Villa and was excited for the opportunity.
Tomorrow, when he sees the many familiar faces in the opposition ranks, he won’t be able to share any stories of success with them, or start to get motivated about his return to Liverpool for pre-season because of the uncertainty surrounding it.
“You leave as a champion,” said Mohamed Salah when his team-mate departed to the West Midlands in the summer, fully expecting the initial loan to become a purchase. More poignant, perhaps, was Salah’s following suggestion. “They are lucky to have you,” he said in relation to Villa acquiring a player who had a lovely blend of experience and potential — and, at that price of £35million, looked to be a shrewd acquisition.
Elliott could hardly be blamed for feeling let down by Villa, who turned to him on September 1 when they hadn’t won a game or even scored a goal in their first three Premier League games of the new season. The move was completed during a period of muddled thinking between Emery, who was desperate for attacking additions, and Monchi, Villa’s now former president of football operations, who left the club three weeks later.
To label it solely as a Monchi mistake would be unfair because the real authority at Villa is Emery, and there’s no chance of a senior player arriving at the club without his blessing. Yet while most managers would have persisted with a new arrival, the Spaniard decided very early on that Elliott was not the right fit for his team, and after only a handful of games, concluded that he couldn’t trust him to carry out his specific tactical instructions and turned back to more familiar players instead.
The setback hurt Elliott and sources with knowledge of the situation, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, say he hoped for an early return to Anfield in the winter transfer window, as he was unable to join another European club after representing both Liverpool, in two late-game substitute appearances, and Villa this season. That would have required the agreement to be terminated, but with no recall clause in place, Villa would have had to pay a fee to do so, something they were unwilling to consider.
With both teams fighting to qualify for the Champions League, neither were keen to assist the other, and that left Elliott stuck in the middle. A compromise was never close and after turning down a chance to join MLS side Charlotte FC, the past few months have been spent largely in limbo.
He hasn’t played in the Premier League since being a 77th-minute substitute against Brentford on February 1, either side of 17 games without a top-flight appearance before that day, and 12 (and counting) after it.
For months, he’s been the odd man out; the only senior player to train but never be truly considered for selection. By all accounts, his attitude has not wavered: he remains both a tough trainer and a polite, friendly presence around Villa’s Bodymoor Heath base. He’s also built relationships with senior players there, who feel sorry for him and believe he has the capabilities to put this behind him in a new environment next season.
Elliott has become a popular figure at Villa (Nick Potts/PA Images via Getty Images)
Slot is sympathetic to Elliott’s plight. “For him, for everyone, it didn’t work out the way as he wanted it, we wanted it, or Villa wanted it, because you usually sign a player to use him a lot,” he said today. “It’s not for me to answer why that is. Of course it’s never nice for a player not to make so many minutes especially after the season he had with us.
“He went over there to get more playing time so it’s unfortunate.For such a talented player that did so well in the U21 Euros, you want a player like that to get more playing time. He went to a very good team who have a lot of good players. I don’t know why he hasn’t made the minutes he was expecting. It’s not for me to answer but it’s a pity if a player hardly plays for two years, let alone a player who shows he’s such a good player.”
If Liverpool do try and sell, they will be conscious that Elliott’s value will have dipped, a reality that affects both player and Liverpool alike. His strongest defence, however, remains the appearance clauses that restricted his involvement. Without them, he would almost certainly have been given greater opportunities to impress and influence games in a Villa shirt.
Far more damaging would have been playing a full season of regular football without delivering the required impact. Given his age, potential and profile, Liverpool can still expect to receive a sizeable transfer fee should he leave on a permanent basis.
Squeezing back into Slot’s squad would depend on who comes in to replace the departing Salah and whether fellow midfielder Curtis Jones signs an extension to a contract set to expire next summer or looks for a move elsewhere. As a homegrown player, Elliott could help solve a shortage in that department, even if it’s not the most important issue at Anfield.
The most crucial part is making up for lost time.
Elliott is a talented player who is simply waiting for the platform to build on a career that previously held so much promise.
Another year mostly on the sidelines — at Anfield, or elsewhere — is not an option. He has to play regularly next season. Unless there’s a major shift, that won’t happen with Liverpool.
