The ECHO’s Liverpool writers assess Harvey Elliott’s current predicament and analyse the merits of a potential return to Anfield
05:00, 14 Nov 2025
Harvey Elliott has not play for Aston Villa since October 2 as his initial loan move from Liverpool fails to work out as planned(Image: Shaun Brooks – CameraSport via Getty Image)
Over two months into his new career at Aston Villa and things are yet to go to plan for Harvey Elliott. Liverpool negotiated a loan deal on transfer deadline day for the England Under-21 international with a view to making the arrangement permanent at the end of the campaign for £35m.
Having struggled to break into the Reds team under Arne Slot as they won the Premier League last season, Elliott was keen to kick on and gain first-team exposure elsewhere and the decision to embark on a huge-spending summer at Anfield further blocked the midfielder’s path.
But the move to Villa Park has yet to bear fruit. The 22-year-old has made just four Premier League appearances so far, three of them as a substitute, with his last outing coming in the Europa League win at Feyenoord on October 2, and there is talk in Villa circles that the attacking midfielder was signed by now former sporting director Monchi rather than head coach Unai Emery.
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“He is training well, and he played some matches, but the performances weren’t what we needed,” Emery said when asked why Elliott wasn’t in the squad for the 1-0 win over Manchester City earlier this month.
“Some players are playing as a No.10, and they are playing well, like (Emi) Buendia and (Morgan) Rogers. Also Ross Barkley, after he was out. In the squad, we needed to take one player out, and I decided for (it to be) him.
“I am happy with him. He is training good. His commitment is fantastic and he is a good guy. (It is) Only a tactical decision.”
Here, our ECHO writers assess if there might be a way back for Elliott – should he fail to hit the reported 10-game milestone that would make the move to Villa a permanent one.
Paul Gorst
Liverpool have no plans to cancel Harvey Elliott’s loan and his hurried move on transfer deadline day was effectively, in the eyes of the club’s key decision makers at least, the end of his time as a Reds player.
But with the 22-year-old struggling to make the grade at Aston Villa there’s a real chance that he doesn’t reach the reported 10 appearances needed to make the transfer permanent. And with Elliott struggling to show Unai Emery what he is capable of, that could represent a problem.
For Liverpool, though, their own issues are unlikely to be solved by an Elliott return, either mid-season or at the end of the loan spell. Arne Slot’s team have become susceptible to the shift in strategy at the sharp end of the Premier League, where teams are increasingly reliant on a more direct and physical style.
If that is to remain the Reds’ Achilles’ Heel then the diminutive and fleet-footed Elliott won’t be much help on that score. That, for his all obvious gifts, is not his game.
Emery insists the ongoing omissions are simply tactical and it is fair to suggest Villa have a plethora of advanced midfielders to choose from, including England star Morgan Rogers. Emi Buendia has rekindled his career in Birmingham and Ross Barkley is also back in the reckoning.
It’s difficult to see where Elliott fits in there. The same, though, is true at Anfield, where Slot is attempting to move beyond a desperate run of seven defeats in 10 right now.
Florian Wirtz, at £116m, is the future of the No.10 role at Liverpool and Elliott’s days at Anfield are all but officially over.
Stephen Killen
This was Harvey Elliott’s opportunity to really assert himself as a Premier League regular and stake his claim for a late surge into the England squad for the forthcoming World Cup.
But it hasn’t gone too smoothly with reports suggesting that he has been frozen out, leaving both Aston Villa and Liverpool with a decision to make.It has been suggested that if he doesn’t play 10 games, the clause to make his move permanent will not be triggered, and he would return to Arne Slot’s side.Should it come to that point, he will be forced to either fight for a place in an already competitive starting XI or be sold. However, from a selling standpoint, the Reds will be significantly weakened in what they can demand from clubs.But if this season has been anything to go by, the right-wing position is one that Liverpool are struggling with due to a downturn in Mohamed Salah’s output. It will be the test during the Africa Cup of Nations, whether they can replace the Egyptian. Without his glut of goals, Liverpool’s form has suffered this season.
Elliott made his name as the England Under-21s’ hero in back-to-back European Championship triumphs, and he played his best football on the right wing, claiming the Player of the Tournament last summer.A bona-fide bargain right-wing option and an understudy to Salah is already beneath the noses of Liverpool’s recruitment chiefs, especially in an extortionate transfer market.
Slot already knows what he can do from the right, he only has to cast his mind to that Champions League first-leg against Paris Saint-Germain.
