'No change' - Aston Villa 'agreement' stands after January deadline with £35m fee looming

Aston Villa head to AFC Bournemouth on Saturday as they aim to bounce back from their defeat to Brentford. They lost 1-0 at Villa Park to the Bees last time out. Unai Emery’s side weren’t able to find an equaliser in the second half, despite having a man advantage, and they slumped to a disappointing defeat.

The Midlands outfit are sat in 3rd place in the Premier League table after 25 fixtures. They are inside the top four along with Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United. Emery’s men still have a healthy cushion of six points ahead of Chelsea in 5th.

Aston Villa latest update regarding Harvey Elliott’s situation

As per the Express & Star, there has been ‘no change’ to Aston Villa’s agreement with Liverpool for Harvey Elliott. The winger stayed put beyond the end of the January transfer window. Therefore, his loan side will have to pay £35million for him in the summer if he reaches 10 appearances.

Elliott, 22, linked up with Emery’s men last summer on an initial temporary basis. They brought him in to boost their attacking department and add more competition and depth going forward. However, he has struggled for minutes this season.

The ex-England youth international has been limited to just seven outings in all competitions, four of which have come in the league. His future has been up in the air over recent times and he was tipped for an exit this winter. He appears to be sticking around now though following Monday’s 7pm deadline which is a surprise.

Emery said in December: "We are speaking with him and about his situation. He is not here with us. First, my decision and also the situation. He is on loan playing with us, but he is not definitely adding to us with a permanent contract.

"Hopefully we can get the best for him and the best for us. I respect him as a player and as a person. He is training well, but we have one circumstance with him. Hopefully we can get a solution for him to try to play consistently and try to continue in his career with us or not."

Is Harvey Elliott back in Aston Villa’s plans?

Aston Villa handed Elliott a start against Red Bull Salzburg in the Europa League last week. He then came off the bench against Brentford in their last outing. Therefore, that suggests that he may well be in Emery’s plans now ahead of the next few months.

The Surrey-born man started his career at Fulham after a spell at QPR and he rose up through the academy at Craven Cottage. He was a regular for the Whites at various different youth levels before going on to play three times for their first-team. Liverpool then came calling for his signature in 2019.

Elliott has since played 149 games for the Reds and has fired 15 goals. He was loaned out to Blackburn Rovers to get some experience during his first year. Arne Slot then let him join Aston Villa last summer to boost his development.