Harvey Elliott has impressed Villa coaches in training despite limited playing time
Harvey Elliott of Aston Villa
Harvey Elliott of Aston Villa(Image: Dan Istitene/Getty Images)
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Despite enduring a challenging season in the Midlands, Harvey Elliott has been impressing Aston Villa coaches with his commitment during training sessions.
Elliott joined Villa on a season-long loan deal last summer, with the agreement stipulating that Villa would be obliged to make the move permanent provided the player made 10 appearances in all competitions.
He made five appearances for Villa in the initial weeks of the season, but was then sidelined for several months due to Unai Emery's doubts. In early January, Emery confessed that he had been avoiding playing Elliott so as not to activate the mandatory purchase option in the loan contract.
Recently, Elliott returned to Villa's squad and made substitute appearances against RB Salzburg and Brentford, bringing his total number of appearances for the Villans to seven.
However, it is believed that Villa's position on Elliott's future remains unchanged, leaving the player in a precarious situation with several months of the season still to go, reports Liverpool.com.
Former Premier League player and manager Stuart Pearce disclosed that he has spoken to individuals at Villa about the situation, and said they have nothing but praise for the Liverpool loanee.
"I really feel for Harvey Elliot because, you know, you speak to people at Villa and they've only got positive things to say about him in terms of his attitude and application in training every day," Pearce told talkSPORT.
"It's just really unfortunate that for whatever reason Emery doesn't seem to fancy him, doesn't want Villa to have to pay the 35 million pounds that's written into the agreement if he plays 10 or more appearances for Villa this season. So he's stuck in limbo."
However, there could be some positive developments on the horizon for Elliott, as reports emerged earlier this week suggesting Villa and Liverpool are preparing to hold discussions to renegotiate the terms of the loan deal.
The present arrangement benefits neither side, as it prevents Villa from utilising a player they're paying for, whilst leaving Liverpool with an asset whose market value will only decrease if he remains on the sidelines.
The most probable solution would appear to be removing the compulsory purchase clause from the agreement, which would enable Emery to deploy Elliott more regularly without the obligation of signing him on a permanent basis.
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