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harvey elliott Will not play at Anfield on Saturday. Which may be suitable for everyone in its own way. With ineligible debtor, liverpool They have escaped the prospect of being condemned to a seventh defeat in eight matches by the player they ousted after a record spending season. unai emeryMeanwhile, he will not have to face questions about why he did not choose a signing who, if his loan becomes permanent, would become Aston VillaThe biggest purchase of 2026.
Elliott did not play much at Anfield last season either. Not from the beginning anyway. He started only five matches and scored only one, an FA Cup win over Accrington on home soil. If the past few weeks have made Liverpool more nostalgic for the Jurgen Klopp era, Elliott may have felt such pain in recent times before many others. He started 27 games in the German’s final campaign. His tally of 53 appearances was the second highest in the team (second only to Darwin Núñez, another since his Anfield exit) and he made 14 assists.
Elliott may seem like a charming guy who divides football opinion. That seemed to be part of Klopp’s legacy. He ended his England Under-21 career player of the tournament Lee Carsley’s team retained their European Championship crown. And he has spent the last 16 months of his club career under Arne Slot and Emery, managers who do not rate him; Or not well enough anyway.
emery stone Elliot was dropped from the team on the day of the match For Sunday’s win over Manchester City. And if Amy Buendia could find a way to return from injury, Elliott appears to be at the back of the line for creative roles. Villa have a conditional obligation to buy him after a certain number of appearances – let’s say 10, and he is on five – giving reason to rule him out if there is any doubt. He was an unused substitute for their last three matches. He scored Villa’s first goal of the season late on at Brentford in the Carabao Cup, but his only league start at Fulham in September was subbed off at half-time.
Emery’s explanation was tactical. “In our structure, in our size, Harvey is a number 10,” he said last week of a player inexplicably given the number 9 shirt. “We have other players who can play as a number 10. He can probably play wide right like John McGinn, but he will need more time.”
Some of this is worth investigating. There are players who have taken the time to adapt to his strict demands and have excelled: last season’s standout Youri Tielemans is an example of this. But there are also others in Villa’s revolving-door recruitment, such as Jaden Filogen and Moussa Diaby, who came and went as quickly as the Spaniard changed his mind.
If the nature of Villa’s team means Emery has several players who can realistically man three No. 10 positions, and the primacy of captain McGinn and Morgan Rodgers makes it difficult for anyone else, then Buendia’s unexpected renaissance may come at a cost to the newcomer. But another issue is that Elliott, who was brought in late on deadline day, hardly looks to be top of Emery’s wishlist. Marco Asensio and Lucas Paqueta were both ahead of him. There must have been others.
Last month, fresh from his debut, brimming with optimism, Elliott declared himself “blown away” by Emery. “I think working under him would be the best thing for me, as long as he trusts me,” he said. Those last six words may now take on a new significance.
lifelong liverpool fan He said he had to be “selfish” in leavingIn search of first-team football. He attracted interest elsewhere, although joining defunct West Ham under a manager who would soon be sacked, in Graham Potter, could be classified as a lucky escape. But RB Leipzig offer intrigue: their parent company’s global head of football is a certain Jurgen Klopp.
If the regime change from Klopp to the slot worked against him, so too did the tactical change from the 4-3-3, in which Elliott played a lot, to a 4-2-3-1. Slot argued that this put him in competition with Dominik Szoboszlai and Mohamed Salah for the number 10 and right wing roles, and this was even before the arrival of Florian Wirtz. He certainly lacks the ability to be a winger. But he hinted that he can be a powerful player, showing that he has both the creativity and the ability to be a brilliant substitute: his Parc des Princes winner Came a cameo against Paris Saint-Germain,
This made him a talented player in search of the right club and manager. Villa, their deal disrupted by PSR, lack of available funds means a deal where payments can be deferred until next year making Elliott look more attractive may not be. From Liverpool’s point of view, Elliott will not be recalled from loan or sent back. But they may be hoping to get £35million for him soon. And perhaps Villa are considering whether they want to pay that or not. Elliott was always going to be watching from the sidelines on Saturday. The danger is that he does this too often.