The arrival of Alexander Isak at Anfield has prompted Liverpool to sell an attacker to a Premier League rival, though the Reds have largely negotiated the terms they were looking for.
Isak completed his British record £125m transfer from Newcastle to Liverpool on Monday night. Isak will wear the number nine shirt and signed a six-year deal running until 2031.
Isak is arguably the greatest centre-forward playing the game right now and will make what many believe was the Premier League’s strongest attack even more potent.
However, one consequence of Isak arriving is Liverpool have completed the sale of Harvey Elliott.
Multiple reports stated Elliott’s switch to Aston Villa hinged on Isak joining and that has now proven to be the case.
Both Liverpool and Villa confirmed Elliott has completed his move to Villa Park and will initially join on a season-long loan.
The deal contains a conditional obligation to buy worth £35m. Per Villa’s official statement, the conditions that trigger the permanent move relate to an appearance target.
Villa’s statement began: “Aston Villa is delighted to announce the signing of Harvey Elliott from Liverpool.
“The 22-year-old joins the club on an initial season-long loan deal with an obligation to buy conditional on appearances.”
According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein when reporting on Elliott earlier this summer, Liverpool’s asking price for Elliott was £40m plus a buy-back clause, or £50m without one.
Liverpool chief, Richard Hughes, has not quite managed to hit the £40m target in the deal, though he has successfully negotiated a buy-back clause.
Furthermore, The Times’ Paul Joyce revealed Hughes has also secured a sell-on clause too.
“Liverpool have included buy back and sell on clauses in Harvey Elliott’s £35m move to Aston Villa,” wrote Joyce on X.
Latest Liverpool news – What happened with Guehi and Gomez…
Aside from Isak and Elliott, the action on Liverpool’s deadline day lay at the opposite end of the field.
Liverpool agreed a £35m deal to sign Guehi from Crystal Palace and the England ace was given authority to undergo a medical with Liverpool officials in London.
Guehi passed the medical, though minutes later, Palace put the deal on ice after failing to sign Igor from Brighton.
Palace wanted two new centre-backs signed before letting Guehi leave. Jaydee Canvot arrived from Toulouse but when Igor aborted his move in favour of pushing to join West Ham, Palace were left in limbo.
Liverpool submitted a deal sheet (meaning they gave themselves an extra two hours to complete the deal post-deadline), but Palace didn’t play ball.
As such, Guehi has remained an Eagles player and the expectation is Guehi will go on to join Liverpool either in January, or via free agency when his contract expires at the end of the season.
Had Guehi signed, Liverpool would have given the green light for Joe Gomez to join AC Milan. The Serie A giants tabled an offer worth £13m for the versatile defender who was open to leaving.
It was actually Milan who pulled the plug on that move around lunchtime on Monday, with the logistics of the deal working against them.
Milan did not feel they had adequate time to conduct a thorough medical and thus called the move off.
Liverpool still fully intended to sign Guehi at that time and throughout the afternoon and evening before Palace pulled the rug.
The end result is Gomez will remain Liverpool’s primary back-up to Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, with Giovanni Leoni in reserve.