Harvey Elliott: £35m Aston Villa and Liverpool ace makes decision amid MLS links
Harvey Elliott faces an uncertain future after a frustrating start to his loan spell at Villa Park
Out-of-favour Aston Villa midfielder Harvey Elliott is thought to be keen to remain in English football despite his lack of first team minutes this season.
The 22-year-old's career has been in limbo for a number of months after he was surprisingly frozen out of Unai Emery’s first team plans in late September.
It’s now been over 16 league matches since Elliott last made an appearance in the Premier League while he hasn’t been included in the matchday squad at all in any of the team’s last 14 top-flight matches.
Elliott joined Aston Villa on a season-long loan deal from Liverpool which includes a £35m obligation to buy. It’s reported that part of the deal comes into effect if the player makes more than 10 appearances in the season, which is believed to be the reason why the London-born midfielder has become such a peripheral figure after making a combined seven appearances earlier in the campaign.
What next for Elliott?
In a normal circumstance, Liverpool would terminate Elliott’s loan and send him out to another Premier League club instead.
The European Championship Under-21 Player of the Tournament was in particularly high demand over the summer after helping his nation to a victory in that tournament and was believed to be the subject of interest from numerous clubs including Fulham, West Ham and Brighton before choosing to join Aston Villa.
However, because Elliott appeared as a substitute for Liverpool in a one-minute cameo against Newcastle United, he is not allowed to play for a third Premier League club in the same season. He’s also not allowed to play for another European team, meaning he can only join a club in another continent such as North America or Asia. This has led to reports linking him with a move to Charlotte FC in the MLS, who are managed by former Villa boss Dean Smith.
“I put the feelers out when I was over there,” Smith told Sky Sports.
“I was thinking about it and thought there is an opportunity there. If he's not going to play for Villa and he can't play anywhere else, then it would be an option for him to come and play some games before the World Cup break.”
Elliott prefers to stay in England - report
According to Sports Bloom, Elliott’s preference is to remain in England and fight for his place before making a long-term decision around his future in the summer.
That means the midfielder will either need to fight his way into the Villa setup by impressing in training and convincing Emery he’s worth paying £35m for, or returning to Liverpool to help provide squad depth for Arne Slot’s side between now and the end of the season.
Elliott played 28 matches in total for the Reds last season during their title-winning campaign but was only selected to start on six occasions across all competitions. The boyhood Liverpool supporter left Anfield to get regular minutes, but has endured a nightmare campaign so far which has all but killed his aspirations of being involved in the 2026 World Cup barring a massive turnaround.