Liverpool loanee Harvey Elliott must impress new Valencia boss Javier Aguirre as local press question his fitness after three substitute outings in La Liga.
Harvey Elliott of Valencia CF looks on during the LaLiga EA Sports 2026/27 match between Valencia CF and Real Sociedad
Harvey Elliott in action for Valencia(Image: Quality Sport Images, Getty Images)
Harvey Elliott could be excused for believing he's been cursed with bad luck over the past couple of years. What other explanation exists for the continued setbacks the Liverpool player has faced while attempting to revive a stalling career?
A fresh start earlier this month with a transfer to Valencia has simply brought more disappointment. Elliott came off the bench for his debut as the Spanish club suffered a humiliating 5-0 home defeat to champions Barcelona in La Liga, and barely two weeks later, the manager who recruited him, Carlos Corberan, was summarily sacked.
Elliott must now win over a new manager, with experienced Mexican tactician Javier Aguirre - whose World Cup touchline interaction with England's Anthony Gordon went viral while recently managing the Mexico national side - having taken charge this week.
"There's a lot of work to do," Aguirre declared at his unveiling on Thursday. "There's still a long way to go in the league, but there are things that need to be done."
Elliott will be hoping for increased playing time, having featured in three substitute appearances, amounting to 85 minutes for Valencia so far, all resulting in losses.
The sole fixture during this period in which he remained on the bench was the 1-0 triumph at Alaves, which prevents Valencia from occupying the bottom spot in La Liga, sitting one point and one position above Malaga. It hasn't been helped by the fact Elliott arrived in less than ideal physical condition, something the local media have been swift to highlight given the current prolonged international break provides a chance to rectify matters.
Yet this comes as little surprise. Since the conclusion of the 2023/24 campaign, Elliott has been named in the starting line-up for just nine matches out of 103 for which he's been available, and has featured in a Premier League starting XI on merely three occasions throughout that timeframe.
Harvey Elliott, on loan to Valencia from Liverpool, looks on from the bench prior to the LaLiga match against Real Sociedad on September 20 2026
Harvey Elliott, on loan to Valencia from Liverpool, looks on from the bench prior to the LaLiga match against Real Sociedad on September 20 2026(Image: Manuel Queimadelos/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
Any footballer would find match fitness difficult to maintain after such an extended spell out of the team.
Perhaps the warning signs emerged during the final weeks of Jürgen Klopp's tenure in May 2024, when the outgoing Liverpool manager stated: "If I regret one thing a little bit it's that Harvey didn't play often enough maybe, because in a very important, intense period – January, a lot of injuries – he played really good.
"He was probably our best player, right wing, right midfield, all these kinds of things. Everybody came back and he had minutes here, minutes there and he didn't start anymore."
Elliott did, in fact, appear in some capacity across 53 fixtures that season and was selected for the final four Premier League encounters. However, the appointment of Arne Slot and the declaration that the adaptable midfielder would now be viewed predominantly as a No. 10 proved unhelpful for Elliott, with Dominik Szoboszlai cementing the position as Liverpool cruised to the title.
Then followed the disastrous loan spell at Aston Villa, where Unai Emery swiftly concluded Elliott wasn't part of his future vision and consequently felt obliged to limit the player's game time to avoid activating the £35 million ($46.3 million) permanent transfer clause.
That being said, he remained the sole Liverpool player to secure a major honor last season as an unused substitute in Villa's Europa League final triumph over Freiburg, though he didn't feature for a single minute during the campaign's final two months.
Now the former England Under-21 international, still just 23 despite having racked up nearly 150 appearances for the Reds, faces the challenge of winning over a sixth different manager in under four years if he's to revive his career trajectory.
While Elliott's Anfield contract still has close to two years left to run, it wouldn't shock many if his days in a Liverpool shirt are behind him, although he can take some comfort in having previously joined an exclusive group of players - Conor Bradley being another - who've left Liverpool temporarily only to return and establish themselves as first-team squad members.
Now Elliott must repeat that feat. Without question, it's high time luck started going his way.