Liverpool are facing a big decision as the January transfer window opens, with financial penalties possible
Harvey Elliott smiles
Harvey Elliott could return to Liverpool(Image: Getty Images)
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Liverpool may soon face their first January transfer decision with attacker Harvey Elliott as he continues to struggle on loan at Aston Villa. The England youth international joined the Reds as a teenager from Premier League rivals Fulham.
He has since gone on to make just shy of 150 senior appearances for the club across all competitions, scoring 15 goals in that time. One of those came against Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16 of the Champions League last season, giving Liverpool a crucial lead heading into the second leg of the tie at Anfield.
However, that was one of just five goals across the entire campaign for Elliott, as he struggled for regular minutes under new head coach Arne Slot.
Therefore, it was no surprise the 22-year-old was heavily linked with a move away from Anfield over the summer. A departure eventually came to fruition on deadline day, as he signed for Villa on a season-long loan, with the move set to become permanent for £30million, triggered only by reaching a certain number of appearances.
Unfortunately for Elliott, it has been another tricky campaign and hopes of making Thomas Tuchel's England World Cup squad in the summer have all but disappeared. Not only because of the intense competition for places in his position for the Three Lions, but also because his game time at Villa Park has been virtually non-existent of late.
However, despite the January transfer window opening, and while the Echo understands that an Anfield comeback has not been completely ruled out, it would likely involve financial penalties for Villa, which they would understandably be reluctant to invoke at this stage.
FIFA rules also state that a player cannot represent more than two clubs in any given season. His short cameo for Liverpool against Newcastle at the start of the campaign means the deal cannot be cancelled only for him to be sent out on loan again.
Elliott has made just seven appearances across all competitions, but has not been in a matchday squad since October.
Despite reports of Villa's coaching staff being impressed with his work ethic and application in training, he has been consistently overlooked by Villa boss Unai Emery.
The Villa boss has all but confirmed they will not be signing him permanently, which has left glaring question marks over his immediate future.
The lack of game time, and omissions from squads entirely, is easily explained by Villa's determination not to trigger his £35million buy clause.
Speaking about the English forward, Emery said: "First, my decision and also the situation. He is on loan playing with us, but he is not definitely adding to us with a permanent contract.
"Hopefully we can get the best for him and the best for us. I respect him as a player and as a person. He is training well, but we have one circumstance with him.
"Hopefully we can get a solution for him to try to play consistently and try to continue in his career with us or not."
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