Arne Slot confirms Harvey Elliott plan
Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from DaveOCKOP or go back to LFC Live.
It has been a difficult year for Harvey Elliott who has just nine appearances across all competitions for Aston Villa this season. Image Credits: Imago ImagesWhen Harvey Elliott joined Aston Villa on a season-long loan last summer, the expectation was simple – regular football, a fresh start, and a £35 million permanent switch to seal the deal by summer 2026.
It hasn’t quite worked out that way.The 23-year-old has managed just nine appearances across all competitions for Villa this season, racking up a meagre 281 minutes of football.The loan included an obligation to buy triggered at 10 appearances – but Unai Emery, fully aware of the financial commitment attached, deliberately kept Elliott on the periphery to avoid crossing that threshold.Emery even publicly admitted Villa had “damaged” the player by freezing him out, yet still refused to commit to signing him permanently.Now Arne Slot has commented on the ill-fated loan spell, saying in his pre-Aston Villa press conference:“I think for him, for everyone, it didn’t work out as he wanted it, as we wanted it and probably also how Villa wanted it, because you usually sign a player or bring him in on loan to use him.“That hasn’t happened a lot. But of course, it’s never nice for a player not to make so many minutes, especially after the season he had with us, where he made – I assume – even more minutes with us than these 280.“He went over there to get more playing time, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.“And for such a talented player that did so well in the U21 Euros [last summer], you want a player like that to get more and more playing time.“He went to a very, very good team as well, where they also have a lot of good players.
I don’t know why he hasn’t made the minutes he was expecting. That’s not for me to answer.“But it’s always a pity if a player hardly plays for two years, let alone a player of that age that has shown during the [U21] Euros that he’s such a good player.”Slot then confirmed that Elliott will return to the squad in pre-season: “He’s contracted to us so he will be with us in the start of the season.”It is a loan spell that has benefited nobody — not Elliott, not Villa, and certainly not Liverpool, who now face an awkward summer trying to reintegrate or offload a player whose confidence has taken a serious hit.