Harvey Elliott looks virtually certain to leave Aston Villa in January having barely played since his move from Liverpool.
Villa had signed the 22-year-old on a loan with obligation to buy on transfer deadline day, an agreement that would reportedly be triggered after Elliott’s 10th appearance.
However, in a somewhat bizarre turn of events, Unai Emery has bombed the Liverpool loanee out of his squad, playing him only five times.
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Big decision for Arne Slot
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“We are speaking with him and about his situation” Emery said on Wednesday. “He is not here with us [for their game against Basel on Thursday]. Hopefully, we can get the best for him and the best for us.”
While that sounds ominous for his chances of securing a permanent contract at Villa Park, Arne Slot accidentally guaranteed that should Elliott return to Anfield in January, he will not be able to join another club either.
Harvey Elliott cannot play for a third team this season
Elliott has had an incredibly frustrating 18 months having first seen his playing time decrease at Liverpool and then being frozen out completely at Villa.
The youngster is a boyhood Liverpool fan, and it must have been a real wrench for him to leave the Reds having foreseen a long career at Anfield for himself.
Arne Slot and Harvey Elliott clap hands after Liverpool's Premier League match against Brentford at Anfield.
Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images
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Interestingly, though, the man who effectively ended his career with the Reds, Slot, has given Elliott a massive lifeline for an unlikely resurrection.
As The Athletic report, Elliott has already played competitively for Liverpool and Villa this season. Rules state that no player can feature for more than two teams in any one campaign.
As a result, turning things around at Villa or coming back in at Liverpool are Elliott’s only options here. With Emery also stating: “Hopefully, we can get a solution for him to try to play consistently and try to continue in his career with us or not,” on Wednesday, it looks unlikely he will continue under the Basque.
Elliott’s one appearance for Liverpool this season came as an 89th-minute substitute during August’s 3-2 win over Newcastle. Had Slot kept him on the bench, he would have been free to explore another move in the New Year. Instead, the Liverpool head coach may have inadvertently kept his Anfield career alive.
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Liverpool must bring Elliott home
Given his passion for the club and his honest, hard-working approach to the game, Elliott quickly developed into a real fan favourite at Anfield.
Clearly, he wanted more game time and a move last summer became inevitable. However, for whatever reason it simply has not gone Elliott’s way.
Slot may not be the England U21 star’s biggest fan, but his return could give a morale boost to the Liverpool squad while also giving the Dutchman another quality option.
As he cannot move elsewhere – and Villa seem desperately unlikely to trigger his buy clause anyway – Liverpool have nothing to lose in bringing Elliott back and using him during the second half of the campaign.
Faced with one last chance at saving his Liverpool career, the former Fulham youngster will give it everything to show the Reds he should not be let go of again. Slot had looked responsible for ending a promising future for Elliott at Anfield, but he may also have accidentally kept it alive.
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