Liverpool and Aston Villa legend Ray Houghton has his say on Harvey Elliott's struggles on loan at Villa Park
Harvey Elliott of Aston Villa during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium
Harvey Elliott has struggled since his move to Aston Villa from Liverpool(Image: Shaun Brooks - CameraSport, CameraSport via Getty Images)
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Harvey Elliott's departure from Liverpool was not meant to pan out this way. The 22-year-old made the tough choice to end his time with his boyhood club, where he had become a Premier League champion, last summer.
Despite shining for England Under-21s and being named player of the tournament as they clinched the European Championships, Elliott had only started six times under Arne Slot last season and knew he needed more game time.
As much as he loved donning the Liverpool kit, he had to put his career first and sought regular starting opportunities elsewhere. Elliott garnered a lot of attention before making the move to Aston Villa on transfer deadline day. Although it was just a loan, his time at Liverpool is effectively over.
The deal included a £35m obligation for Villa to make the move permanent once Elliott played ten games for them, reports the Liverpool Echo.
However, three months later, and it is questionable whether Elliott will even reach this modest target.
He scored in his full debut against Brentford in the League Cup, but was taken off at half-time in his only other start for Villa so far, against his old team Fulham at the end of September.
Since then, a four-minute substitute appearance away at Feyenoord on October 2 remains his last game for the club - leaving him with just five appearances as the January transfer window looms.
Since his last appearance, Elliott has been left on the bench against Burnley, Tottenham Hotspur, Go Ahead Eagles and Maccabi Tel Aviv, and was not included in the squad for victories over Man City and AFC Bournemouth. He was also ineligible to play against his former club, Liverpool.
This lack of playing time has sparked rumours about his future at Villa and whether they will sign him permanently, with Unai Emery explaining on several occasions why the Liverpool loanee is not in the starting line-up.
This leaves Elliott in a difficult situation, further complicated by the fact that he played twice for Liverpool before moving to Villa, meaning he can't play for a third team during the 2025/26 season.
His options seem limited to either staying at Villa and trying to get back into Emery's first team or considering a mid-season return to Anfield - where he would likely be a substitute at best anyway.
Liverpool legend Ray Houghton empathises with Elliott's predicament. The ex-Republic of Ireland international ended his own Reds career to join Aston Villa ahead of the inaugural Premier League season 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, like Harvey Elliott, swapped Liverpool for Villa
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Perplexed by Elliott's difficulties since making the same move, Houghton believes the midfielder has been unfortunate 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 told Mirror Football when speaking on behalf of Joe Fortune. "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 and Florian Wirtz have both struggled(Image: 2025 Chris Brunskill/Fantasista)
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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."
Whilst it was perhaps unavoidable that Elliott would be linked with a premature return to Liverpool given his difficulties thus far, Houghton has rubbished such speculation.
Rather, he maintains the midfielder simply requires a bit more time to demonstrate his worth at 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.
Aston Villa's Harvey Elliott arrives for the Premier League match between Sunderland and Aston Villa at Stadium of Light
Harvey Elliott is struggling at Aston Villa since his move from Liverpool(Image: 2025 CameraSport)
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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."
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