A new detail has emerged in the terms a Liverpool player agreed to over the summer and the signs increasingly point towards his deal being aborted.
Liverpool splashed the cash over the summer, though it’s easy to forget they also let a mountain of important first-team players go too.
Caoimhin Kelleher, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez were just four of many more sold. The idea when loaning Harvey Elliott to Aston Villa was to eventually generate £35m in pure profit.
Elliott’s season-long loan contains a conditional obligation to buy worth £35m. It’s been widely reported the condition that triggers the clause is Elliott making 10 appearances for Villa, but it had not been clarified if they must come solely in the Premier League or whether all competitions count.
A fresh update fromESPN has now answered that final question. They state Elliott’s 10 appearances must come in the Premier League and so far, he’s only up to three.
Put simply, the loan switch has been disastrous for the playmaker. He is wholly unfancied by Unai Emery who hasn’t included Elliott in his matchday squads in the Premier League since September. Never mind making the starting eleven, he can’t even make the bench.
Liverpool do not possess a break clause in the agreement, meaning the Reds can’t engineer the player’s return on their end.
What’s more, if Elliott were to be sent back by Aston Villa, he’ll be ineligible to feature for another team this season, thus ruling out the possibility of Elliott being loaned elsewhere.
Players can register with three different clubs during a single season but can only play for two in official matches.
Unfortunately for Elliott, he made one brief cameo for the Reds in their 3-2 victory over Newcastle prior to joining Villa.
As such, ESPN, state Elliott is ‘trapped’ in a shambolic situation that is doing the player and his development more harm than good.
And unless Emery suddenly reverses course and decides to pick the player more, Elliott will return to Anfield next summer and the £35m Liverpool expected to generate will be lost in the ether.
Compounding a miserable situation even further is the fact Elliott’s transfer value will also have decreased on the back of a wasted season.
Latest Liverpool news – January deals / Slot finished?
In other news, Liverpool’s hierarchy are being encouraged by club scouts to push through a January deal for RB Leipzig sensation Yan Diomande, with the Reds actively looking into a potential deal, sources can confirm.
Elsewhere, Liverpool and Chelsea have both checked in with Joel Ordonez’s camp in recent weeks as they consider making a move in January, and both the player and his club are ready to accept a winter window move.
Finally, Liverpool fans have vociferously voiced their frustrations with Arne Slot after they were held to a lethargic 1-1 draw at home to Sunderland and with many now demanding the sack, while an extremely worrying admission from the manager shows how far the Reds have fallen.