Aston Villa’s chance of Harvey Elliott solution revealed as internal Liverpool talks emerge
Aston Villa have already made it clear that they are not interested in signing Harvey Elliott permanently from Liverpool.
The Villans brought the attacking midfielder to B6 in the summer, on a season-long loan that included a mandatory obligation option to buy worth £35million, should certain requirements be met.
Unai Emery does not want to sign Elliott permanently, despite giving him game time in the Europa League and Premier League recently.
It’s a sticky situation for Aston Villa and Liverpool, as there is a clearly talented attacker now being wasted in a transfer failure that both had high hopes for.
Now, it’s up to them to try and find a solution on what to do with Elliott now that the winter transfer window is closed.
Liverpool don’t want to succumb to Aston Villa’s wish with Harvey Elliott
Elliott was linked with MLS side Charlotte FC in the winter market, but the logistics of his deal at Villa Park made any exit difficult.
With the Englishman now up to seven appearances in all competitions for the Villans, he is just three away from activating Villa’s obligation to buy.
- Aston Villa have to buy Elliott for £35m if he makes 10 appearances
- He has started just once in the Premier League
While speaking on talkSPORT this Tuesday, Alex Crook revealed some more information on where Villa and Liverpool currently stand in the Elliott saga.
Crook said: “I guess the way out of it is if Liverpool waives that obligation so that he’s then free to play until the end of the season without Villa being committed to buying him.
“I’ve got to say, last time I spoke to people at Anfield, they didn’t seem particularly keen to go down that road, they saw this as Villa’s problem, not theirs.”
The Reds appear to be highly unlikely to budge on the clause included in Elliott’s contract, which means the 22-year-old will probably only make another two appearances for the Villans.
Monchi was said to be the one who pushed for Elliott before his departure, and had Roberto Olabe been in charge at the time, none of this may have happened.
Unai Emery now has clear decision to make with Elliott
Including Elliott in matchday squad’s now seems pointless, because even if he is needed off the bench, how would the Liverpool loanee have the required impact with a lack of match fitness?
Villa were busy in the winter window, and brought back the likes of Tammy Abraham and Douglas Luiz to Villa Park.
However, they also signed exciting young winger Alysson, who, when fit, should surely feature on Emery’s bench instead of Elliott.
Not only him, but there’s no reason why Brian Madjo can’t be included, either. Even if Emery wanted to buy Elliott, there would be concerns over whether NSWE could afford to pay the £35m or not.
The Villans are building for the future, and utilising their youngsters is going to be key in developing the club and regaining financial stability.