£35m Liverpool transfer rises from the ashes as BBC confirm deal now possible | OneFootball

A £35m transfer between Liverpool and a Premier League rival that looked dead and buried is now possible, according to the BBC.

Much was made of Liverpool’s colossal spending last summer, though it’s important to remember the Reds offloaded more than their fair share of first-teamers.

Among those to depart was Harvey Elliott who joined Aston Villa on a season-long loan. The terms of the deal contained a conditional obligation to buy worth £35m that would be triggered if Elliott played 10 matches across all competitions this season.

Elliott quickly fell out of favour at Villa Park and numerous trusted sources including Fabrizio Romano confirmed Villa had no intention of meeting the conditions that would trigger the permanent deal.

Accordingly, Elliott spent month after month at the back end of 2025 in the wilderness, and was regularly omitted from Villa’s matchday squads.

The idea of cutting Elliott’s loan spell short was floated, though he’d only have been able to be loaned out again if joining a club outside of the UEFA confederation.

A move to MLS side Charlotte FC was explored on the Americans’ side, but Elliott had no interest in moving stateside.

Liverpool also showed little enthusiasm for bringing Elliott back given no recall clause is present in his terms. The Reds would have had to pay Villa to bring the playmaker back to Anfield where in all likelihood, he wouldn’t play all that much anyway.

However, a recent spate of injuries to the likes of Boubacar Kamara, John McGinn and Youri Tielemans has seen Elliott return to first-team action under Emery.

He’s featured in each of Villa’s last two matches – against RB Salzburg in the Europa League and Brentford in the Premier League – to bring his total number of appearances for Villa to seven.

Elliott is now just three games away from the £35m clause being triggered, and per the BBC, it is now possible that the move that previously looked dead and buried could now be made.

The first step towards Elliott’s permanent transfer has now been taken after the outlet noted Elliott will remain with Villa for the remainder of the season.

They stated: “Harvey Elliott is expected to stay at Aston Villa.

“The Liverpool loanee’s future has been in doubt since Villa boss Unai Emery decided he did not want to make his move from Anfield permanent.

“Elliott is now three appearances away from triggering a transfer worth £35m after initially joining on loan in the summer.

“The attacker had been sidelined by Emery – although he has remained training with the first team – with the manager saying Villa decided in October not to buy the 21-year-old.

“Yet after an injury crisis at Villa with Boubacar Kamara out for the season and John McGinn and Youri Tielemans out for months, Elliott has featured in Villa’s last two games – having not played since October 2.

“He played the entire match in Villa’s Europa League win over Red Bull Salzburg last week and was a second-half substitute in Sunday’s 1-0 defeat to Brentford.”