Complete guide to Harvey Elliott’s situation at Aston Villa – Finances, loan agreement and reaction
After starring for England in the Under-21s Euros, Harvey Elliott joined Aston Villa with a lot of promise and excitement surrounding the player.
Elliott was named U21 Euros Player of the Tournament, as the young Three Lions won the trophy in Slovakia.
However, his time at Villa Park has not gone as swimmingly as anticipated, with the player falling out of favour not long after joining.
Elliott’s move has confused many associated with Aston Villa, and the club had wanted to end his loan in January but were unable to do so.
Overall, the situation is bizarre, with Emery effectively ostracising the Liverpool loanee due to an arrangement in his contract.
What is Aston Villa’s loan agreement with Liverpool for Harvey Elliott?
Life has been tough for Elliott, who certainly deserves some sympathy for the situation he has found himself in.
The 22-year-old appears to be a popular figure in the squad, with Tyrone Mings publicly joking with Elliott about his current circumstances.
However, it is the manager he needed to become popular with, and that has not been the case.
Elliott joined Aston Villa on a loan with an obligation to buy for £35million, if certain criteria were hit, with the club covering all of the midfielder’s reported £65,000 per week wages.
When the deal was negotiated, the requirements to make it permanent were made quite low, with all parties expecting the move to go through at the end of the season.
Elliott must only make 10 appearances for the Villans to satisfy the terms of the deal. So far he has made just seven appearances.
With Liverpool expecting the deal to be made permanent, the Reds did not include a recall clause, and if Villa wanted to end the agreement, they would have to pay a fee, something they did not want to do.
How will Unai Emery react to Elliott’s situation?
Injuries in midfield have seen Emery turn to Elliott over the last few weeks, but that is not a sign his fortunes are changing.
In all likelihood, Elliott will begin transitioning back out of Aston Villa’s squad over the next few weeks.
Elliott’s Aston Villa apps/mins:
- Everton 0-0 Aston Villa – 19 mins
- Brentford 1-1 Aston Villa – 67 mins
- Sunderland 1-1 Aston Villa – 32 mins
- Aston Villa 3-1 Fulham – 45 mins
- Feyenoord 0-2 Aston Villa – 4 mins
- Aston Villa 3-2 Salzburg – 90 mins
- Aston Villa 0-1 Brentford – 13 mins
The Englishman is getting dangerously close to hitting the 10 appearance criteria that would make his move to Villa Park permanent.
That is a scenario that Emery has repeatedly stated both he and the club are looking to avoid.
Villa and Liverpool did engage in talks to restructure Elliott’s loan, but so far, nothing positive has come out of that.
Elliott is now expected to remain in limbo, where he will return to Liverpool in the summer, ending what has been a disappointing move for every party involved.