Harvey Elliott is the forgotten man of the Premier League – Liverpool don’t want the England U21 hero back, while Aston Villa don’t want him now
Want to know how fickle football can be? Just ask Harvey Elliott, the forgotten man of the Premier League.
There have been more sightings of Lord Lucan than Elliot in recent times. Just five months ago Elliott was feeling on top of the world. Well, Europe at least, having inspired his England U21 side to Euro 2025 glory.
He scored five goals, was named ‘player of the tournament’ and had a big season ahead of him to look forward to with Liverpool. Then his footballing world caved in. The 22-year-old made just two appearances for the champions, before Liverpool allowed him to join Aston Villa on-loan.
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And considering Unai Emery’s treatment of Elliott ever since, it’s impossible to fathom why the Villa boss signed him in the first place.
People talk about the great job Emery has done at Villa. And he has. In particular this season, which has seen Villa join Manchester City and Arsenal in a three-way title scrap. But one thing he has got badly wrong is his handling of a wonderful talent like Elliott.
Emery even had the brass neck to publicly state part of the problem was that if Elliott made so many appearances (10), Villa would have to make the deal permanent. So that makes it okay for a manager to just dump a player in the skip then, does it?
To make matters even more humiliating for all concerned, Emery suggested at the start of last month Elliott could be picked again, due to the demanding run of fixtures.
But instead, Elliott’s only appearance was in a Christmas video on the big screens at Villa Park. He was pushing a laundry trolley at the Bodymoor Heath training ground, while wearing a festive jumper. In short, he was being humiliated. Again.
He hasn’t been in one of Emery’s squads since the start of October. And Villa are a team competing on three fronts, including Europe.
What this is all doing to Elliott’s mental state, only the player himself knows. Not much, I’d imagine. He wasn’t even on the bench when Villa lost 1-0 to Everton on Sunday afternoon.
Which brain boxes thought this was a good move for Elliott, when discussing his future last summer? Emery’s treatment of Elliott has been disgraceful.
Had things been different, Elliott could have been looking forward to a chance of being in Thomas Tuchel’s World Cup squad in a few months time. Just like his former U21 team-mate Elliot Anderson is.
Instead, he is hurtling towards a black hole, facing up to the prospect of having an entire season taken from his career. Liverpool don’t want him back, while Villa don’t want him now.
There is no recall clause in the current deal and Liverpool are only expected to act if Villa initiate a return to Anfield. If that were the case, Villa would be expected to pay a fee to terminate the loan and potentially contribute to Elliott’s wages.
But if Emery had any decency and compassion, he would order his Villa bosses to cancel the loan agreement, even if it costs his club a requisite amount on top of the loan fee.
This would free up Elliott to find another club in this month’s window – but only outside of Europe because he has already represented two English sides this campaign – which could offer him games of football.
The alternative is to do nothing, continue with a nonsensical situation, and let Elliott keep on rotting in the background.
Emery has a responsibility to do what is best for a player he wanted to sign. But right now he is acting like he couldn’t care less.