It’s not looking good for Harvey Elliott. Unwanted by Liverpool after a £400 million splurge on new forwards, he found himself shipped out on loan to Aston Villa, where he was meant to kick-on under Unai Emery.
Now, the 22-year-old has been frozen out by the Spaniard and completely out of Thomas Tuchel’s thinking for next year’s World Cup, playing 97 minutes across his four Premier League games so far.
So, where is it all going wrong at Villa Park for the Liverpool loanee?
Not an Unai Emery Signing
It’s pretty clear at this point that Emery wasn’t pushing the club to go and do everything in their power to sign Elliott. Hamstrung by their PSR issues, Villa were left scrambling in the summer transfer window to improve on a squad that did well in 2024-25.
Villa pay over 90% of their revenue on player wages. Failure to qualify for the Champions League meant they had to rely on the loan market more than they would have liked, hence why they signed Elliott and Jadon Sancho, both of which have barely played.
Several reports have suggested that Emery wanted the club to sign one of Lucas Paqueta from West Ham, or Paris Saint Germain’s Marcos Asensio, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Villa.
They eventually landed on Elliott, and on paper, it made a lot of sense. The attacking midfielder had a really impressive summer with England’s Under-21s as they retained their European Championship title, scoring five goals, including the opener in their 3-2 final win over their German counterparts.
When he joined on September 1st, Villa were the only Premier League side not to have scored a single goal, funnily enough Elliott was the player to break that duck with the opener in their 1-1 Carabao Cup clash against Brentford, which they would go on to lose on penalties.
Why is Harvey Elliott out of favour?
Emery isn’t the type of manager that gives his players much freedom. The number ten role is key to everything he does, and whomever plays there needs to be tactically astute, press hard and fast, and be a creative force.
Elliott simply isn’t used to having all of that responsibility. At Liverpool, he was largely used as a substitute, frantically hoping to influence a game that was already over in the hopes he made a good enough impression to earn a start down the line.
All of that and the fact that he now has an in-form Emi Buendia ahead of him in the pecking order mean his chances are limited, and it’s up to Emery to give him more chances to prove himself when the player didn’t expect he’d have to.
In defence of Elliott, Buendia’s renaissance came out of nowhere. The Argentinian looked like he was going to leave in the summer, but he chose to stay and has now scored four goals and provided two assists in his 14 games across all competitions.
What is Unai Emery saying about Harvey Elliott?
In public, Emery has backed Elliott, consistently praising his commitment and personality since he joined nearly three months ago, but that doesn’t mean the manager hasn’t criticised him.
“Some players need adaptation,” he said in a press conference after the 1-1 draw with Sunderland. “Harvey, he had one chance to score, but he has to understand our identity better as well. He has to (make) more passes before doing the last pass, the last assist.“
When asked why the 22-year-old wasn’t in the squad for the recent 1-0 home win against City, Emery said: “He is training well, and he played some matches, but the performances weren’t what we needed. Some players are playing as a No 10, and they are playing well, like Buendia and Rogers. Also Ross Barkley, after he was out.
“In the squad, we needed to take one player out, and I decided for (it to be) him. I am happy with him. He is training good. His commitment is fantastic and he is a good guy. (It is) Only a tactical decision.”
Verdict
Several reports have claimed that neither Villa or Liverpool have an option to terminate the loan early, so it’s looking like Elliott will be there until the end of the season.
Interestingly, there is an obligation to buy for £35 million come the end of the season, although it’s unclear where there is a way out, similar to the one Chelsea had with Sancho. He’s going to need more minutes to justify such a fee for a club that has issues like Villa.