Harvey Elliott could get final Aston Villa chance as Unai Emery hit by crushing news
Harvey Elliott has been out in the Villa Park cold this season.
After a fairly quiet summer transfer window this term, Aston Villa signed Harvey Elliott on deadline day, with the midfielder joining on a season-long loan from Liverpool.
However, Elliott’s move to Villa Park includes a £35million obligation to purchase him from the Reds, which is understood to be triggered if or when he plays 10 Premier League games for Aston Villa.
But, not even a month after becoming a Villa player, it was revealed that Unai Emery wanted Lucas Paqueta over Elliott, casting major suspicions over whether this was a move that was always destined to fail.
Aston Villa suffer huge Boubacar Kamar blow as full details emerge
Fast-forward to mid-January 2026, and Elliott has indeed made just four Premier League appearances for Aston Villa this season, culminating in 97 minutes of league football.
That surely tells a story of Emery not wishing to play Elliott unless he absolutely has to, as £35m is a lot of money given Villa’s ongoing tussle with PSR.
However, the Villa boss may now have no other option but to play the 22-year-old midfielder, as the full details of Boubacar Kamara‘s injury have surfaced.
As revealed by The Athletic, Kamara is now expected to be sidelined for the remainder of the season following the knee injury he sustained in Villa’s FA Cup win over Tottenham on 10 January.
The 26-year-old central midfielder was previously believed to be out for two-to-three weeks, but after further examinations, it’s now clear that the French international has sustained a significant problem.
Emery can strike gold if he places faith in Elliott
With Lamare Bogarde‘s performances being largely poor this season, and with Amadou Onana and Ross Barkley injured, Emery is all but out of options to fill the Kamara-shaped void in midfield.
Elliott is his last resort, but if trust is placed in the versatile midfielder, then Emery can find a player he’d be more than happy to spend £35m on.
Still only 22, Elliott has already racked up just shy of 150 first-team appearances for Liverpool, which isn’t something any old young player can achieve, especially considering he’s dealt with major injury setbacks himself.
Indeed, it was only in the 2023-24 season when he scored four goals and provided 11 assists in 53 games for Liverpool, showing the kind of quality he possesses.
Having transitioned into more of a central midfielder/attacking midfielder in recent times, Elliott could provide a real injection of creativity and energy back into Emery’s engine room.
At the very least, he must now be allowed to win Emery over, in what should be viewed as a win-win by the Villa boss.
If he does impress, then Villa can sign a young midfielder who could blossom into a star player for them, and if not, then Emery has six league games he can deploy him in before his obligation is triggered, before moving him back to the fringes.
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