Harvey Elliott Not in Liverpool & Villa’s Plans. This season, he joined Aston Villa on loan from Liverpool, but not everyone at Villa wants him to stay. According to the loan terms, the deal will automatically convert to a permanent transfer once the player reaches a specific number of appearances.
Aston Villa and Liverpool are in talks to amend Harvey Elliott’s loan terms, with the potential to scrap the obligatory buyout clause included in the deal.
The 22-year-old joined Villa on a season-long loan from Liverpool last summer, with high expectations surrounding the move. The original loan agreement stipulated that if Elliott made 10 Premier League appearances, Villa would be required to sign him permanently for £35 million.
However, under the management of Unai Emery, Elliott has only made four Premier League appearances to date. The two-time U21 European Championship winner was named in the matchday squad for three consecutive games at the start of the season, with a seemingly bright future, but he has since gradually lost his place – first remaining an unused substitute for two straight matches, before being left out of the squad entirely.
His severe lack of game time sparked speculation that Liverpool could recall the player early in the winter window. MLS side Charlotte FC had expressed interest in taking him on loan as a way out of Villa. Since Elliott has already featured for Liverpool this season, he is ineligible to play for any other European club under FIFA regulations, making a move to the US a theoretically viable option.
But Elliott himself has no desire to play in the US, and Liverpool also has no intention of recalling him mid-season, meaning he ultimately stayed at Villa.
Last week, Elliott was handed a reprieve: he started and played the full 90 minutes in Villa’s 3-2 Europa League win over Red Bull Salzburg, before coming off the bench in the 1-0 Premier League defeat to Brentford – his first top-flight appearance since September.
With Elliott set to potentially get more playing time, Villa and Liverpool are negotiating to scrap the obligatory buyout clause in his contract. The move is aimed at giving Elliott the chance to showcase his ability, and Liverpool hopes to avoid a drop in his market value ahead of any potential summer transfer moves.
It was further stated: "I believe an agreement on amending the terms can still be reached after the transfer window closes. Specifically, the rule of 'obligatory buyout upon reaching a specific number of appearances' could be scrapped. If Liverpool confirms that Villa will not exercise the buyout, to let the player get game time and remain attractive in the summer transfer market, they may agree to change the obligatory buyout to an optional one, or raise the threshold of appearance times required to trigger the buyout."
