Blackburn Rovers backed to secure shock Harvey Elliott deal - "Tony Mowbray can work some magic" | OneFootball

The Liverpool star had a loan spell at Ewood Park early in his career, but FLW's Blackburn pundit has doubts over whether there'll be a repeat of it.

Blackburn Rovers have been linked with a sensational loan move for Liverpool's Harvey Eilliott, in what appears to be somewhat of a pie in the sky enquiry.

A 2-1 home defeat against Queens Park Rangers on the Saturday of the Bank Holiday weekend may have tempered ambitions a little around Ewood Park, but with four points from their first two games, Blackburn Rovers have already made a stronger start to the 2026-27 season than many pre-season predictions had expected.

It took a very late penalty for Wolverhampton Wanderers to snatch a point from their Championship curtain-raiser on the opening weekend, while an impressive win in their second match against another of the teams fancied to be in the mix for promotion this season, Middlesbrough, made it a very satisfactory four points from two very difficult opening fixtures.

With the transfer window set to close at 11pm on the 1st September, the race is now on to get any final tweaks made to their playing staff before they're unable to do so again until January, and Rovers have been linked with what could be one of the most audacious moves made by any Championship club throughout this transfer window.

It's been reported that Rovers have enquired about the availability of Harvey Elliott, the Liverpool attacking midfielder who's fallen out of favour at Anfield over the last couple of seasons, and gained valuable experience earlier in his career in a temporary stint at Ewood Park.

Elliott was sent on loan to Aston Villa last season, but had an unsuccessful season there too and he may be available on loan for this season as well.

Surprise expressed over Blackburn links to Liverpool star Harvey Elliott

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News of Blackburn's interest in taking Harvey Elliott on loan has been a big surprise, so Football League World have spoken to our Blackburn Rovers fan pundit Simon Middlehurst to get his reaction to it all, and Simon is as surprised as everybody else.

"To be honest, I don't know what to make of it. I think it's a bit far-fetched, really," he told FLW.

"It's great that Tony Mowbray has reached out, obviously he played under Tony Mowbray the last time he was with us. He had a really good season, but then he was only 17, so he was learning his way in the game.

"Since then, he's had a couple of good seasons at Liverpool but he's fallen down the pecking order. Things didn't go well for him last season at Aston Villa, but I can't really see him wanting to drop down to the Championship to try and kick-start his career again.

"If anything, I could probably see him going to another Premier League side, but if anyone can get it done, if anyone can bring him in, maybe Tony Mowbray can work some magic."

What fans are saying on social media about Harvey Elliott links to Blackburn

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News that Blackburn Rovers could be interested in a shock move for Harvey Elliott has spread like wildfire on social media, so here's a small selection of what's being said about the possibility of it happening.

This Rovers fan has no faith whatsoever in his club being able to get such a move over the line.

But this Rovers fan feels that stranger things have - almost - happened before.

This fan believes that the timing of this story could be a nefarious plot on the part of the owners of the club.

And ultimately, this post seems to sum up where most Blackburn fans stand on the likelihood of it happening.

Harvey Elliott has too many other options for a Blackburn return to seem likely

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At 23 years of age, Harvey Elliott has already won the Premier League, the Europa League, the World Club Cup, the EFL Cup and, at an international level, the Under-21 European Championships (twice), so even though his season-long loan at Aston Villa in 2025-26 was a disaster, it's worth asking whether Harvey Elliott could countenance returning to the Championship with Blackburn Rovers.

His previous spell at loan at Ewood Park came in the 2020-21 season, and it was a considerable success. Elliott scored seven goals in 41 appearances for Blackburn that season, including the goal later voted as their Goal of the Season. He was also nominated as the EFL Young Player of the Season award for that season, losing only to Michael Olise, who was then playing for Reading but has since gone on to win the Bundesliga twice with Bayern Munich.

But Elliott has fallen from favour at Anfield, and his spell on loan at Aston Villa was a disaster, despite his team ending the season by winning the Europa League. Elliott could only manage nine appearances for them, and with reports of a clause in his contract which required Villa to buy him once he'd made ten, he found himself frozen out of their Premier League squads. He was an unused substitute for their Europa League final win against Freiburg in May.

The bigger reason why Elliott would be unlikely to return to Ewood Park is interest from elsewhere. It's already been reported that the Spanish side Valencia have been in talks with him, and that they've already agreed terms. There have also been rumours connecting him with a possible move to Serie A. It seems unlikely that he would rip all of that up to go to Blackburn instead, certainly in the face of such interest from elsewhere.

Elliott had a successful season at Ewood Park in 2020-21 - even if Blackburn Rovers, who finished that season in 15th place in the Championship that year, didn't - but he's also a professional who will have his career development firmly in the front of his mind. And there's little way to frame dropping into the second tier for a season beyond it being a backward step for a player who still has the potential to be an England international one day.