Harvey Elliott breaks silence on Aston Villa nightmare and 'second chance' with Liverpool

Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from Echo or go back to LFC Live.

I wanted to kind of go and explore something, come out of my comfort zone, that I thought personally that would take me on as a player again.“Unfortunately, it didn't work out, but the way I see it is, that's last season now I'm here. It's just all part of football, and for me, as I said, it's a learning curve and an opportunity that I hope I don't experience again, but it's a situation where I know I've been able to get through it.

I saw with my own eyes how much it meant for them, and I wouldn't say it’s a lost year myself when you achieved something like that, because that's selfish."It’s a situation, as I said before, I couldn't handle it, I couldn't control what was going on. It was just a case of accepting it, and just trying to get my head clear and get myself in the best position to come back here, and, I tried as hard as I could."I still feel like I can get better and I'm working as hard as I can to do that.

I haven't shown my 100% yet and I think that would take a little bit of time, because of the fact that I didn't play much last season, but I'm sure I'll get there very quick, and I'm sure I'll start feeling myself again."On his prospects of forcing his way back into the thinking at Anfield after just a handful of starts under Arne Slot in 2024/25, Elliott added: “I think I need to be more kind of cautious of my decisions.“Ultimately, I'm still wanting to be selfish, within that aspect of doing what's right for me, and whether I'm staying here and fighting for my place, or whether that's potentially going elsewhere, I'm still unsure at this moment in time until I get some more intel.“But I'm really happy to be back, since the first day I walked through the door at Axa, I had a big beaming smile on my face, and, as I've said before, about putting the shirt on, I don't want to take these moments for granted, because, last season, I thought it was the last opportunity I'd done it, and I'm back here now."I'm wearing this strip again and putting this shirt on, and I just want to be free, and just play as much as I can, and just enjoy, because sometimes I don't feel like I do it enough. I think when it comes to the right time of asking him, that's when I'll go and ask."But, ultimately, it's just down to me, as long as I'm putting in the effort of hard work and the desire on the pitch, then I feel like I have the opportunities to go in and ask, but, as I said, at this moment in time, I'm not sure.