Liverpool set to miss out on £35m deal in brutal transfer U-turn

Harvey Elliott is set to leave Aston Villa in January less than six months after joining the club, and he may not kick a ball for the rest of the season.

The attacking midfielder signed on a season-long loan from Liverpool on deadline day in September.

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His arrival at Villa Park included an obligation to buy as well as sell-on and buy-back clauses.

However, Elliott has struggled for game time since joining Villa, who beat off competition from clubs in the Premier League and Europe.

Unai Emery has now revealed the club are exploring potential solutions for the 22-year-old ahead of next month’s transfer window.

It comes after Elliott was not included in the travelling squad for their Europa League clash with Basel on Thursday.

Elliott’s Villa future

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Emery explained: “We are speaking with him and about his situation.

“He is not here with us. Hopefully we can get the best for him and the best for us.

“I respect him as a player and as a person. He is training well, but we have one circumstance with him.

“Hopefully we can get a solution for him to try to play consistently and try to continue in his career with us or not.”

Elliott has made just five appearances for Villa since joining the club, scoring once in those matches.

The last of those was a four-minute cameo against Feyenoord in the Europa League in October.

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Meanwhile, he has been left out of the matchday squad for each of Villa’s last seven Premier League matches.

Emery added: “I have spoken with him two or three times about the situation we have with him.

“Firstly, my decision and also the situation. He is on loan playing with us, but he is not definitely adding to us with a permanent contract.”

Liverpool dealt blow

Liverpool had been set to receive £35million as part of Elliott’s loan move to Villa once the deal was made permanent.

However, Villa’s obligation to buy would only become active once the midfielder made ten appearances for the club.

As a result, the Reds are now likely to miss out on a fee this summer with the player only reaching half of that tally.

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Elliott could be forced to return to Anfield in January if he ends up leaving Villa, however, talkSPORT understands he also may not return to Liverpool.

The former England under-21 international featured twice for Liverpool this season prior to his switch.

FIFA registration rules limit players to playing for a maximum of two clubs in the same season.

Elliott’s only hope of kicking a football again this season would be able to get around the rules by joining a club in a league which runs from summer to winter such as those in the MLS.