Harvey Elliott is ineligible to play for Aston Villa against parent club Liverpool on Friday night. But Unai Emery wouldn’t have picked him anyway. And not to save him for next week’s Europa League final against Freiburg. Elliott hasn’t seen a single minute of game time since March because he’s one appearance away from triggering the clause in his loan agreement that would oblige Villa to buy him for £35 million ($46m) – and they’ve absolutely no intention of allowing that to happen.

Elliott’s season is essentially already over, although, in truth, it never really began, with Emery deciding very early on that the versatile forward was not part of his plans. A summer return to Liverpool has long since been an inevitability but what chance does he actually have of staying there? After all, it’s not as if Arne Slot rates him either.

Below, GOAL breaks down a desperately sad situation and tries to figure out what the future holds for a player previously considered one of England’s top teenage talents…

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Klopp’s one regret

Just before leaving Liverpool in May 2024, Jurgen Klopp was asked if he had any regrets. The Kop idol replied, “It’s not like I go back and think, ‘Where did we go wrong here and there?’ But if I regret one thing a little bit it’s that Harvey didn’t play often enough, maybe.

“In a very important and intense period in January when we had a lot of injuries, he played really good, probably our best player, whether it was right wing or right midfield, all these kind of things. [Then], everybody came back and he had a few minutes here and there and didn’t start any more.”

Elliott certainly bore no ill-will towards Klopp, though. The childhood Liverpool fan was immensely grateful to a man he’s repeatedly labelled a “legend” for “helping me live my dream” and says he’s surprised that there still isn’t a statue of Klopp outside Anfield.

A bright start under Slot

Elliott’s career was also in a very promising place at the end of 2023-24 campaign. He’d just featured in a career-high 53 games across a single season and, at 21 years of age, was being tipped to play a major role under Klopp’s successor, given he appeared ideally suited to the No.10 role within Slot’s system.

Elliott’s pre-season performances only strengthened that belief, as he exhibited the mix of industry and innovation the former Feyenoord coach wanted in an attacking midfielder.

“[We’re] playing out from the back, getting him in the right positions, so then it is up to him to make the most out of these situations and he did that today with two assists,” Slot said after Elliott created both goals in Liverpool’s 2-1 friendly win over Arsenal in Philadelphia on August 1, 2024.

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An essential exit

However, when the 2024-25 season began, Elliott found himself back on the bench, and played just seven minutes of Liverpool’s opening three games before suffering a foot fracture while training with England’s Under-21s.

The injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for Elliott, as Slot intended to call upon him more regularly during a run of seven games in 21 days for the Reds.

By the time he returned to action, Liverpool were flying, with pressing machine Dominik Szoboszlai excelling in the No.10 role, and Mohamed Salah arguably in the form of his life on the right wing, meaning there was no chance of Elliott playing regularly in either position – which felt like the story of his Anfield career.

Elliott issued a timely reminder of his quality by coming off the bench to net a late winner in the Champions League last-16 first leg against Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes, but it was telling that the only Premier League games he started all season came after the Reds had wrapped up the title.

Slot had quite clearly deemed him surplus to requirements and the summer signing of Florian Wirtz meant that a move wasn’t just inevitable, it was essential for Elliott.