Aston Villa boss Unai Emeryplaceholder image
Aston Villa boss Unai Emery | Getty Images
Aston Villa are back in Premier League action after the international break as Unai Emery’s side look to keep their momentum going
Aston Villa won 4-0 at home to AFC Bournemouth last time out before the international break. Emi Buendia, Amadou Onana, Ross Barkley and Donyell Malen got their goals against the Cherries at Villa Park as they ran out comfortable winners. The Midlands outfit have risen up to 6th in the Premier League table.
They are only one point off the top four behind Sunderland now. Unai Emery’s men have seen an upturn in form in the league over recent times. They are back in action next weekend with an away trip to Elland Road to play Leeds United.
Aston Villa fired Harvey Elliott warning
Aston Villa signed Liverpool winger Harvey Elliott on loan in the last transfer window. He was brought in to add more competition and depth to their attacking department. However, his switch hasn’t worked out yet.
Emery’s side have an obligation to buy him on a permanent basis if he makes 10 appearances. He has been left out of their last three matchday squads and is finding it hard to get into the team. Finance expert Stefan Borson, who used to work at Manchester City, has said, as per a report by Football Insider: “I think that the 10 games will have been something where they know it’s almost certain to happen, but the deal won’t happen until the condition is met. It allows them to move it in the financial year. The only slightly surprising thing is that they don’t seem that keen on playing him very much.”
He added: “I wonder whether there is still some question where, although they envisage he definitely would not go back to Liverpool, maybe there is some sort of contemplation that there is a world where he goes back now and they say that they don’t fancy it for whatever reason, or both parties don’t fancy it.
“I don’t know. He was left out of the squad recently, where it was a bit surprising. Ten games is really not very many, so I think it’s going to be very hard for them to not complete on that transaction.”
What now for Aston Villa and Harvey Elliott?
Elliott is in limbo at Aston Villa at the moment. If he doesn’t feature enough times for them, a return to Liverpool will be on the cards. The Reds gave him the green light to head out the exit door earlier this year to get some regular game time.
Arne Slot could no longer guarantee him minutes at Anfield due to strong competition for places from the likes of Mo Salah, Cody Gakpo and others. Therefore, he will have seen his switch to Villa as an opportunity to show what he can do. Emery hasn’t fancied him though and his future is up in the air.
Elliott joined Liverpool back in 2019 from Fulham. He has since played 149 matches for the Merseyside giants and has found the net on 15 occasions. As well as Aston Villa, he has also been loaned out to Blackburn Rovers in the past to get experience.
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