Christian Purslow pleads with Liverpool to solve Harvey Elliott woes at Aston Villa
Harvey Elliott has received fresh backing as his Aston Villa nightmare continues.
Elliott joined Villa on loan in the summer, but has hardly played due to a £35million obligation-to-buy if he plays 10 games in claret and blue.
The England under-21 international hasn’t been helped by Emi Buendia’s resurgence at Aston Villa, with Unai Emery opting to leave the loanee out in the cold.
Things have changed in recent weeks as the attacking midfielder featured as Villa secured victory over RB Salzburg, before also coming on against Brentford last time around.
Former Villa Park CEO Christian Purslow has now made his feelings clear, urging Liverpool to agree to a change to benefit Elliott for the rest of the season.
Christian Purslow sends message to Aston Villa and Liverpool
Villa and Liverpool held talks about Elliott at the end of the January window, but failed to reach a compromise.
That will see the attacking midfielder’s minutes be limited further than they already are, especially as he heads towards his eighth and ninth appearances.
Emery won’t allow him to reach that tenth with the deal as it is, as there is no way he’s currently worth that £35m fee.
The Villans want the Anfield club to change the deal to allow them to utilise Elliott more, but that doesn’t look likely right now.
Purslow has now spoken out on The Football Boardroom podcast, urging Liverpool to alter the deal to help benefit all parties across the rest of the season.
He said: “If I’m Michael Edwards, I would be saying to myself, ‘If he gets more minutes at Villa between now and the end of the season, his value will be maintained higher.’
“He will be a player proven at a fantastic club under a brilliant manager, playing in real high-jeopardy football to try and be in Europe, to try and win the title, to try and win the FA Cup, and to try and win the Europa League. All of those are minutes available to Harvey if they tweak that contract.
“If I’m Villa to get off the hook of paying an obligation, which means I’m now able to play this player more often, I should pay Liverpool a loan fee for that, and if I’m Liverpool, I’m happy because the boy is going to be playing.
“He comes back in the summer, hopefully he plays ten games more this season, at least. He bounces back, and he’s the Harvey Elliott he was last summer and is still worth the £30-35m that Villa would pay.“
Elliott deal must be changed ASAP
I don’t see how Liverpool can sit on their high horse and say “you’ll never walk alone” and then refuse to alter Elliott’s loan agreement.
Villa haven’t dealt with the situation very well themselves, but if the shoe were on the other foot, would Arne Slot want to pay £35m for a player after so few appearances? No.
I understand that the Villans agreed to the deal, so it could be argued they should have their cake and eat it, but they can decide to just not play Elliott at all.
That doesn’t seek to benefit anyone, and the B6 outfit just want to make a deal work that can benefit everyone.
Liverpool just need to reach a compromise and understand that the longer they wait, the worse the situation gets for their loanee.