Aston Villa boss Unai Emery has insisted that he’s happy with Harvey Elliott despite his struggles to make a breakthrough in the side this season.
The 22-year-old was signed in an initial loan deal from Liverpool this past summer, with the move set to become a permanent switch should he make 10 appearances for Villa this season, with the fee reported to be around £30m to £35m.
So far, Elliott has made five appearances for Villa across all competitions, but while he was ineligible to face parent club Liverpool at the start of the month, he was left out of the matchday squad against Manchester City and Bournemouth entirely.
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That in turn has raised question marks over whether or not Emery has been left convinced by the England U21 international, and whether Villa are looking to possibly limit his involvement to avoid that obligation to sign him outright if he isn’t a great fit for the current squad.
Time will tell if that is indeed the approach from the club as with a hectic fixture schedule coming up, the Villa boss will need to rotate and rest key individuals, while with the January transfer window approaching, it remains to be seen if the two clubs open discussions about cutting short Elliott’s stay, if both sides are even willing to agree to that.
Conversely, Elliott featured for four minutes against Feyenoord in the Europa League last month, and so to ‘waste’ an appearance on such a short time on the pitch would suggest that it’s perhaps more a matter of being patient as he continues to adapt and settle in under Emery.
Speaking to the media on Friday at his pre-Leeds United press conference, the Villa boss insisted that he remains pleased with Elliott’s application and commitment, but the form of others and that adaptation process means that he’s still got work to do to become a important cog in our system and how we play.
“It is everything, because the adaptation is something that some players need more than others,” Emery said, as quoted by BirminghamLive. “But the team is going forward and being very demanding to achieve individual and collective performance, also the consistency we need.
“Some players, they need more time, or we can speak about how he struggled last year, Buendia, to achieve what he is doing this season.
“Harvey Elliott, he is working very well. He is working consistently. He is a good guy and his commitment to Aston Villa is fantastic.
“I am happy how he is doing his work here, but now it is difficult because he has other players playing and performing well, for example Emi Buendia and other players.”
Villa face Leeds, Young Boys and Wolves in the space of seven days now and the schedule sees us practically play every four of five days for the remainder of the year, and so there will be rotation in the coming weeks.
The level at which Elliott features will no doubt give us a better indication of the plan with him moving forward, as ultimately it doesn’t help anyone if we’re stuck in a position in the second half of the season where he is effectively frozen out to avoid having to sign him permanently.
At this stage, that still doesn’t feel the more likely scenario, but it’s hoped that he can show his quality in training, earn the trust of Emery to become a more regular part of our plans on matchday and establish himself as an important option in the squad.