EXCLUSIVE: Liverpool and Aston Villa legend Ray Houghton has his say on Harvey Elliott's struggles on loan at Aston Villa
Aston Villa's Harvey Elliott arrives for the Premier League match between Sunderland and Aston Villa at Stadium of Light
Aston Villa's Harvey Elliott arrives for the Premier League match between Sunderland and Aston Villa at Stadium of Light
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Harvey Elliott’s Liverpool exit was not supposed to turn out like this. The 22-year-old took the difficult decision to call time on his Reds career in the summer, departing as a Premier League champion with his boyhood club.
Having been limited to just six starts under Arne Slot, the playmaker, who had just shone for England Under-21s and was named player of the tournament as they won the European Championships, knew he needed to push on.
As much as wearing the Liverpool jersey meant to him, he had to prioritise his own career and went in search of starting opportunities elsewhere.
Elliott attracted plenty of interest, before leaving for Aston Villa on transfer deadline day. While departing only on loan, his Reds career is considered as good as over.
The switch included a £35m obligation for the move to be made permanent once the midfielder hit 10 appearances for the Villans.
Yet three months on and it is debatable whether Elliott will now even reach such a modest target.
While he scored on his full debut against Brentford in the League Cup, he was substituted at half-time in his only other start for Villa to date against former club Fulham at the end of September.
Since then, a four-minute substitute outing away at Feyenoord on October 2 remains his last outing for the club - leaving him with a total of five appearances under his belt as the January transfer window starts to come into sight.
In the seven games since his last outing, Elliott was left unused against Burnley, Tottenham Hotspur, Go Ahead Eagles and Maccabi Tel Aviv and left out of the matchday squad entirely for victories over Man City and AFC Bournemouth. Meanwhile, he was also ineligible to feature against former club Liverpool.
His lack of game-time has prompted speculation and uncertainty regarding his future and whether Villa will sign Elliott permanently, with Unai Emery explaining more than once why the Reds loanee has fallen down the pecking order.
It leaves the midfielder in a frustrating position, made even more complicated by the fact that he made two appearances for Liverpool prior to joining Villa, leaving him unable to play for a third side during the 2025/26 season.
As a result, his options would appear limited to stay at Villa and try and force his way back into Emery’s starting XI or explore the possibility of a mid-season return to Anfield - where he would again be limited to a bit-part role anyway.
Liverpool legend Ray Houghton sympathises with Elliott. The former Republic of Ireland international called time on his own Reds career to join Aston Villa ahead of the first Premier League season back in the summer of 1992.
Ray Houghton in the UEFA Cup match second leg, Aston Villa 1- 0 Inter Milan, held at Villa Park
Ray Houghton in the UEFA Cup match second leg, Aston Villa 1- 0 Inter Milan, held at Villa Park
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Perplexed by Elliott’s struggles since making the same move, Houghton believes the midfielder has been a victim of circumstances both at Anfield and Villa Park.
“Yeah, I really don't know (why it’s not working out). I'd love to speak to Harvey and see what his thoughts were,” he exclusively told the ECHO, speaking on behalf of NeptunePlay. “He made the decision for footballing reasons.
“I think he probably realised he wasn't going to get as much game time under Arne (Slot) as he might have done under Jurgen (Klopp). Jurgen played him a lot more and gave him a whole lot more opportunities.
“I think Arne's preferred players in that area who are probably a bit quicker across the ground when you look at Ryan (Gravenberch), you look at Dominik (Szoboszlai) at the moment. You know, they're absolutely flying, they are flying machines, aren't they?
“And he probably felt that he was surplus to requirements. You've also got Curtis Jones as well in that position. So I think Harvey realised he wasn't going to get many starts and he wanted to go and play.
“But when you look at the midfield at Aston Villa, you look at the form that they were in ahead of coming to Anfield, they were absolutely flying. And that was without Tilemans as well.
“Kamara was playing, Onana was the other one. And the position that Harvey would like to play is probably where Morgan Rogers is. And Morgan Rogers, he's going to be a top player.
“I think the bigger clubs, and I say this with all due respect to my old club, Aston Villa, but some of the big clubs will certainly be at him, the top clubs, because he's got a little bit more than most.
“So Harvey's probably just gone at a time where the manager knows the players there. He knows these lads and what they can do. Harvey's still trying to work out at the moment. It might just take him a little bit of time.
“The problem you've got, this is what I think of football today, and we can see it with our own Florian Wirtz. It's immediate. It's about the here and the now, every game.
Harvey Elliott of Liverpool replaces Florian Wirtz during the 2025 FA Community Shield match between Crystal Palace and Liverpool at Wembley Stadium
Harvey Elliott of Liverpool replaces Florian Wirtz during the 2025 FA Community Shield match between Crystal Palace and Liverpool at Wembley Stadium
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“If you're not doing it, why are you not doing that? You've come in, £100m and look at you now. There's no bedding in time. There's no time to play your way into a new team.
“You've got to be doing it from day one. Game one, you've got to be doing it. If you're not doing it, I want you to know why.
“And that's how football's gone. It doesn't matter what club you're at. That's the nature of the beast now that you're looking at.”
While it was inevitable that Elliott would be linked with a mid-season return to Liverpool as a result of his struggles so far, Houghton has dismissed such a notion.
Instead, he insists the midfielder just needs a little more time to prove himself at Aston Villa.
“I think I'll give him some more slack at the moment. And it's not easy,” he said. “When you're playing at Liverpool and you're playing a certain way, then you go to another club who's not playing exactly the same way, you've got to try and fit in, you've got to find a balance of doing it.
“Maybe that hasn't quite worked in his favour at the moment. But that's why I'll go back to that everyone's expecting it here and now. It might take him another few weeks.
“Funny enough, I was speaking to Peter Beardsley about this. When Peter came to Liverpool, he was telling me, and this is not me saying this, this is him saying to me, that he struggled to start with because he didn't fit in straight away.
“It took him quite a while before he felt comfortable in himself, that he could do the things that he wanted to do. And it might be the same with Harvey.
“I have a story that they think he was playing the ball too quickly. And what that means is, because at Liverpool, it's move it on, move it on. Sharp, sharp, pass, pass, pass.
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“Whereas at Aston Villa, it is a bit more structured. You get into your positions and then you wait before you play the ball when the other players are in the positions that's required.
“And that's something you have to get used to. There's something new, that's something different, and old players go through different things.
“What I was used to at Liverpool was different to what I had at Villa. But I was fortunate. I went into a team that had players like Garry Parker, who wanted the ball all the time.
“Then Dean Saunders came and Dean was at Liverpool with me so I knew the runs that he was making. So that helped me, it was of a benefit to me because I had someone there.
“I played with Paul McGrath, Steve Staunton, and had been at Liverpool with me and was at Aston Villa and played with him at the Republic of Ireland. So there were bodies and people there that helped settle in.
“Whereas Harvey's going to a new environment. He played against the players, but he doesn't know them.
“It just might take a little bit more time for him to get up to speed with what's required and what he needs to do to get into the starting eleven.
“But I wouldn't be in a rush to, you know, do one thing and the other with him. I'll wait and give him a little bit of time. I think he deserves that.”