Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has hinted that the club might not sign Harvey Elliott on a permanent basis as a solution will be sought on his future.
The 22-year-old arrived from Liverpool on an initial loan deal on transfer deadline day this past summer, but he’s gone on to make just five appearances for Villa since, with reports suggesting that should he reach 10 appearances, that will trigger a clause in our agreement to sign him outright at the end of the season in a deal worth around £30-35m.
While Emery has insisted in recent months that Elliott is continuing his adaptation process and that he’s happy with his application in training, that hasn’t stopped the Villa boss from leaving him out of our matchday squad on multiple occasions, and so from the outside looking in, it certainly seems as though the club are looking to avoid that obligation to sign him permanently as they might not be entirely convinced by him as of yet.
Want more Villa news? Subscribe to Talk Villa+ below for ad-free weekly newsletters, exclusive articles and much more sent directly to you. The TalkVilla podcast is also now available, have a listen, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or YouTube. UTV!
Emery confirmed that Elliott hasn’t made the trip to Switzerland for our Europa League clash with Basel on Thursday night, and he went further to concede that discussions are ongoing to find a solution for him, be it with us or an alternative option that will suit all concerned.
“We are speaking with him and about his situation,” Emery told the media, as quoted by BirminghamLive. “He is not here with us. Hopefully we can get the best for him and the best for us.
“I respect him as a player and as a person. He is training well, but we have one circumstance with him.
“Hopefully we can get a solution for him to try to play consistently and try to continue in his career with us or not.
“I have spoken with him two or three times about the situation we have with him. Firstly, my decision and also the situation. He is on loan playing with us, but he is not definitely adding to us with a permanent contract.”
Amid speculation linking Villa with a January swoop for Brazilian teenage winger Alysson, the signs arguably all point towards Elliott perhaps returning to Liverpool next month if an agreement can be reached between the two clubs for that to happen, and he will either continue there or elsewhere. Meanwhile, Villa could move in a different direction, with Alysson being a less expensive option, and perhaps offering more of what Emery is looking for to improve the group.
Time will tell if Elliott can do anything to convince Emery in the coming weeks as we have plenty of games in a short space of time over the festive period, but time is surely running out for him, and a split seems like the most sensible solution for both parties.
It would certainly be a shame if that’s the route taken, as there was excitement and expectation after his arrival, and his goal at Brentford early in his time with us suggested that he could go on and be an important player for Emery. Unfortunately, that hasn’t materialised yet, and it doesn’t seem as though it will happen anytime soon either.