Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has confirmed that the club will look to cut short Harvey Elliott’s loan spell in the January transfer window.
The 22-year-old arrived from Liverpool in an initial loan deal last summer, and on making 10 appearances for us, that would trigger a clause in the agreement to sign him outright for a fee believed to be in the region of £30m.
Elliott has made just five appearances for Villa thus far, and having been left out of the matchday squad for a significant number of games in recent months, that indicated that we wouldn’t be looking to sign him on a permanent basis.
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As per Matt Maher of the Express and Star, Emery has now confirmed that Villa are indeed working on ending Elliott’s loan stint early, and that he in fact made a decision on his future two months ago.
It’s added that all parties concerned are now working on a solution that suits everyone, and amid speculation linking Charlotte FC with a loan swoop for Elliott for the remainder of this season, that could be a possible avenue to explore further.
Having played for both Liverpool and Villa already this season, Elliott can’t register for a third club in Europe in the same campaign, and so moving to MLS would be an option if he is open to the move.
“We have the issue with Harvey Elliott. Again, I am respecting all I can because he is a very good guy, a professional and respectful guy,” Emery explained in his pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon.
“The situation he has with us is something I must take a decision on, but trying not to damage the player as less as possible. He deserves the best for him.
“After it, if he is leaving, we can maybe try to use the position he is [in] to let us work something [in the market]. Until now, we only signed Alysson because we believe in his potential.
“Of course, we are opening the door for players with more experience. The players we have, I am so happy.
“In case we are not signing more players, I am really convinced myself to get the objective we have this season.”
“The problem we have with Harvey is that he is on loan, and in case he plays matches we must buy him.
“We decided two months ago that we are not convinced to sign him, spending the money we would need to. This is the only issue. He is training every day with very good behaviour and to help us in training sessions.
“This is not something good for us and him, but this is football and sometimes we must make decisions.”
Villa confirmed the signing of Alysson from Gremio on January 1, and so with the focus likely to be on his development into becoming a key option in Emery’s squad, that will likely push Elliott further down the pecking order.
Ultimately, it’s a shame that it has played out this way as he’s a talented player with plenty of experience of a winning culture after his time at Liverpool.
It hasn’t worked, and although it hasn’t ended up costing us on the pitch given our positive first half of the campaign, question marks perhaps need to be raised on our transfer business last summer and the decision to agree to these particular terms.
It’s possible that Emery has found it difficult to help him integrate and adapt fully under the pressure of not wanting to hit that mark of 10 appearances until he was sure, and so it’s just hoped that we can find a solution that suits all in the coming weeks and move on from this error in judgement.