Harvey Elliott's situation at Aston Villa shows no sign of improving any time soon, after the midfielder was left out of another gameday squad by Unai Emery.
Elliott joined Villa on loan from Liverpool during the summer transfer window, and the deal includes a clause for Villa to make the move permanent if Elliott makes 10 appearances for the Midlands club. He has currently made five.
Elliott has not appeared for Villa since October 2, and he has not been included in a gameday squad in the Premier League since October 19, with the most recent blow coming on Sunday when he was absent from the Villa squad to face Wolves. Elliott finds himself in a tough spot, as FIFA rules stipulate that a player cannot appear for more than two clubs in a single season.
Elliott has made appearances for both Liverpool and Villa, so his only hopes of playing again this term are to break through at Villa or to return to Liverpool and play for Arne Slot's team.
Both of those outcomes seem unlikely at the moment, so Elliott may have to wait until the start of next season to start playing regularly again.
The Mirror reports that West Ham has asked to be kept informed on Elliott's situation, while RB Leipzig continues to be linked with a move for the 22-year-old.
Liverpool could opt to recall Liverpool in January and sell him to a club other than Villa during next summer's transfer window.
Harvey Elliott warms up for Aston Villa
Elliott has made just five appearances for Villa (Image: Getty Images)
The Reds would most likely receive a lower sum than the conditional $46 million fee that they agreed with Villa for Elliott, primarily because the player will not have played very often over a significant period of time.
"We now have a lot of matches. We must focus on each match with the players we have now," Emery said when questioned about Elliott's prospects at Villa last week.
"We are not thinking about the transfer window in January. He is one of our players and hopefully he can help us. Then, we are going to decide."
When pressed on what Elliott needs to do to earn more minutes, Emery responded: "Firstly, there are other players performing very well. This is the first argument of why he is not playing. He is training very well every day."