Harvey Elliott's future with Aston Villa has never looked more bleak than it does right now.
The midfielder completed a loan move from Liverpool to VIlla Park during the summer transfer window in a deal that offered genuine excitement that such an immense talent would have a big opportunity to strut his stuff on a regular basis. Sadly for him, that hasn't materialised, at all.
Since joining Unai Emery's side, Elliott has found game time hard to come by but was offered a rare matchday opportunity in the Europa League clash with Young Boys. However, the occasion didn't go as the player would have liked.
Harvey Elliott An Unused Sub Again For Aston Villa
Harvey Elliott
Ahead of Aston Villa's clash with Young Boys, Emery got tongues wagging by including Elliott in his matchday squad for the Europa League clash. The midfielder has not featured in a matchday squad for any of Villa's last four Premier League games. Meanwhile he's played just four minutes in the Europa League, while being an unused sub in their last two fixtures.
Against the Swiss side, Elliott was named on the bench once again with the hope of getting a rare opportunity to take to the field, however, that didn't happen with the 22-year-old left to gather dust as an unused sub once again.
Harvey Elliott Must Be Put Out Of His Misery
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Elliott must be furious at how his time with Aston Villa is playing out. A loan spell which should have been the making of him is turning into an absolute nightmare in which he's struggling to make the matchday squad, let alone getting any game time on the pitch.
Emery is speaking fondly of the midfielder so it doesn't seem like there's any siginificant off-field feud to speak of. It just seems like Emery doesn't fancy him as someone who is capable of doing what he needs from a midfield player in his team.
That is the Spaniard's prerogative as head coach and to be fair, Villa's success so far this season does validate Emery's decision on team selection. That said, it's hard not to feel very sorry for Elliott.
The 22-year-old is a real talent who showed real quality with Liverpool and in the right team, he's capable of being a top-level Premier League star. It just seems like Villa is not that team.
Aston Villa hold the cards here regarding his future with Elliott on a season-long loan deal with no reported recall option for Liverpool. They also have a mandatory permanent deal set as part of the deal if certain criteria is met.
Surely it's not in anybody's best interest to make this move permanent. You just hope that sense will prevail and that Elliott will be allowed to leave Villa Park in January in order to reignite his career elsewhere.
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