‘Harvey Elliott obligation fee to be slashed’ as Aston Villa and Liverpool called ‘crazy’
Harvey Elliott has had a nightmare loan spell at Aston Villa.
Elliott has been a bit-part player for Villa as Unai Emery has been reluctant to utilise him for the majority of the campaign.
If the attacking midfielder plays 10 games, he activates a £35million buy obligation, which Villa don’t want to do after Elliott’s lack of impact.
That has left the Englishman in a difficult position, but Elliott is now set to stay with Villa until the end of the season and see out his loan spell.
Talks between the B6 outfit and Liverpool have now been mooted that could help Elliott resolve the issues he’s faced in the Midlands.
Aston Villa and Liverpool set for Harvey Elliott talks
Villa and Liverpool are ready to discuss Elliott and the potential of altering his loan agreement to benefit everyone involved.
There have been questions of whether the obligatory fee could be cut in half to £17.5m or if the number of games before a permanent deal is raised.
Neither has gone through to this point, leaving the Anfield loanee in a place where his substitute cameo against Brentford could be one of his last in claret and blue.
Former Villa scout Bryan King has slammed both clubs for delaying these talks to February, but hopes a resolution can be reached to lower his potential transfer fee.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, King said: “He’s done nothing for me to justify a fee of even £17m.
“It’s quite plain and simple that Liverpool weren’t even interested in bringing him back, and I don’t think Villa is the club for him either.
“Something has to come out of his loan now that he’s staying.
“The agreement could become effective, but I think the fee will have to be altered.
“He’s only played seven games, and I’m afraid this agreement should have been altered in November or December. These discussions should have gone on then, not in February.
“He’s three games away from his allotted number before Villa have to make payment, it’s crazy.
“The people who are doing the deal should have settled it a long time ago.“
Elliott has been let down by Liverpool
Many football fans will point towards Villa and Emery and suggest they are to blame for the current situation surrounding Elliott.
The Villans agreed a £35m fee, but they are, unfortunately for the attacking midfielder, within their rights to steer clear of paying that out.
Thanks to Emi Buendia’s re-emergence, the claret and blue outfit weren’t in need of a big-money attacking midfielder, so that money could be better spent elsewhere in the summer.
Liverpool have seen this situation play out and don’t seem to be playing ball when it comes to a cut-price deal for their 22-year-old right now.
That ultimately leaves Villa in a position where they just won’t use Elliott, and the only parties that lose out on that are Liverpool and the player himself.
It just makes sense for the current arrangement to be changed and for the ex-Fulham youngster to get a proper chance in B6, but the ball is in Arne Slot’s court.