There were no options for Harvey Elliot, as he realized the bench at Liverpool would become a permanent hangout under Arne Slot. The choice fell on Aston Villa, who last season only had a goal difference separating the Champions League ticket in 5th place. With Unai Emery, most things were in order for the Birmingham club, a club Elliot could both get playing time and experience success with one of the Premier League’s best clubs. When the starting gun for the season went off, Aston Villa were left standing on the line. For Elliot, it has been months out in the cold.
Aston Villa have only collected 12 points in 8 games, the 22-year-old from Liverpool has been on the pitch in just four PL games and one cup game since the transfer, a total of 174 minutes on the pitch.
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After the 2-1 loss to Go Ahead Eagles in the Europa League on Thursday – without Elliot on the pitch – Emery spent time answering questions about Elliot’s situation.
“Harvey is number 10 in our structure, in our formation, and he plays some games, but there is still an adjustment for him to be able to contribute fully individually to our structure and the tasks we have. Of course, he is training well and his efforts are also very good, but his performances have not been sufficient so far,” Emery began after the game.
“At the same time, we have other players who can play as number 10, and they perform well, and I have other players. This is the main reason why he hasn’t been given game time in the last few games, but he has to keep working the way he does in training and of course regain the confidence in the performances we need from him,” the Villa manager explained.
When Aston Villa announced the transfer of Elliot on deadline day, the club confirmed they had included a purchase clause in the deal, which will be activated if Elliott gets a certain number of games during the season.
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To us, it looks like Aston Villa have already decided to make sure that the purchase clause is not activated. This smells of Elliot’s return to Liverpool – with a season without much-needed playing time.
