Liverpool could welcome loanee Harvey Elliott back into the fold to replace Mohamed Salah should the Egyptian leave Anfield. Salah dominated headlines with his very public statement of disdain after being dropped from the Liverpool side for several weeks.
While a departure from the club is not immediately on the cards, Salah remains in a standoff with the club and manager Arne Slot, and is currently exiled from the first team and training alone. After being dropped to the bench in Liverpool’s previous two Premier League matches, Salah was omitted entirely from the squad that traveled to Milan to take on Inter Milan in the Champions League in mid-week.
TeamTalk has now reported that Liverpool has been informed by Aston Villa that they are prepared to send loanee Harvey Elliot back to Anfield. Elliott joined Villa on transfer deadline day on a season long loan that includes a conditional obligation to buy for £35m next summer.
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The player has failed to stake his claim in Unai Emery’s side however, and has only made five appearances for Villa so far. He would have to make 10 appearances to trigger the obligatory £35m clause, and Villa have now decided that those funds are better spent elsewhere.
Villa now plan to prevent Elliot from making the necessary appearances and are prepared to send him back to Liverpool next month. While a Salah departure is unlikely, Elliot could prove a useful deputy given how difficult it is to complete major transfers in January.
Liverpool may have Salah replacement
Elliott, who can play as a winger or attacking midfielder, will be no stranger to Liverpool’s system. Though he struggled to break into Arne Slot’s plans, he is highly rated internally at Liverpool.
Liverpool are also believed to be considering a summer swoop for Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo as a long term replacement for Salah, and could look to trigger his release clause sooner if Salah does in fact depart.
Any talk of a Salah departure may be premature however, after Arne Slot insisted there is “no reason” to want the player to leave.
Speaking his prematch press conference on Friday, Slot said he has spoken to Salah since the incident and will speak to him again before deciding whether or not to include him in the squad to face Brighton on Saturday.
“I will have a conversation with Mo this morning,” Slot said. “The outcome of that conversation determines how things will look tomorrow.”
“I think the next time I speak about Mo should be with him and not in here. You can keep on trying but there is not much more to say about it.”
“We have spoken a lot in the last week after the Sunderland game there were a lot of conversations between his representatives and ours, our representatives and him, between him and me, and today I will speak to him again.”
When asked is he would like Salah to remain a Liverpool player beyond this month, Slot responded shortly: “I have no reasons not wanting him to stay, if that is a little bit of an answer.”
Nadji Grizzle
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Nadji is a football writer with over 10 years of experience covering the Premier League. His work has been featured on Football Fancast, Arsenal-Mania, and Arsenal.com, where he has built a reputation for delivering sharp analysis, engaging storytelling, and in-depth coverage of the game.
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