Credit: Imago

James Barker

Thu 21 May 2026 9:40, UK

Harvey Elliott has joked that he’s “played a huge part” in Aston Villa‘s Europa League-winning campaign.

Drink it in Villa fans, your team really are champions of Europe!

Wednesday 20 May is a day that will live on in the history of Aston Villa Football Club, as Unai Emery‘s side bring a European trophy back to Villa Park for the first time since 1982.

They’ve always looked like potential winners throughout this season’s competition too, smashing the league phase and making light work of the knockout rounds too.

Villa’s win over Freiburg has made legends of every single player in this 2025-26 team, and that includes the likes of Elliott.

What did Harvey Elliott say after Aston Villa’s Europa League win?

Elliott’s Aston Villa loan hasn’t worked out, with the Liverpool midfielder making just nine total appearances in all competitions this season.

That’s been by design too, as Villa Park chiefs are reluctant to see him hit 10 appearances, as that would see them obliged to trigger a £35million purchase clause.

For a player who has turned out 149 times for Liverpool, many expected the 23-year-old to become an important player in the West Midlands this year.

However, that’s simply not been the case, and Emery has even apologised to him in recent days for his lack of minutes in his team.

Despite that, Elliott has consistently remained positive and invested in Villa’s success this season, and he was named on the bench for Wednesday night’s final, albeit unable to get on the pitch.

But, as exemplified in a classy-yet tongue-in-cheek post to his Instagram account after becoming European champion, Elliott proved just how good of a character he is.

“Was written in the stars from the moment I signed! Up the (expletive) Villa. Played a huge part,” Elliott joked.

“All jokes aside Villa fans thanks so much for everything! Enjoy yourselves.”

Elliott did play his part in Aston Villa’s Europa League win

It may not be the sort of role he expected nor hoped to play, but Elliott did certainly contribute to Aston Villa’s Europa League success story this year.

He appeared in four games in the competition, starting one of them against Austrian side RB Salzburg in the final league phase match.

As per FotMob, he completed an average of 57.0 successful passes per 90 in the Europa League this term, which no player in his position was able to better in the competition this season.

This was the same story when it came to his 83.8 touches per 90, again being a number that none of his positional rivals matched.

Meanwhile, he also registered a passing accuracy of 87.7 per cent, took three shots, won six duels and three tackles, whilst also making seven recoveries respectively.

Elliott should hold his head high when he returns to Anfield, as he’s largely played well when given a rare opportunity to play this season, and has shown superb resilience and character throughout the course of the campaign.

Still only 23, he’s still got plenty of good years to come, and clearly a player with plenty of ability and untapped potential, Elliott’s mental fortitude during his time at Villa Park has been something to admire too.