Fabrizio Romano, James Pearce reveal all on Harvey Elliott future amid Villa ‘unhappiness’ and Liverpool recall talk | OneFootball

Harvey Elliott’s rapidly declining minutes at Aston Villa has seen speculation aired about the possibility of a recall by parent club Liverpool in January – but an update from James Pearce has confirmed why that is not possible, and having revealed what will happen next.

The attacking midfielder secured a move to Villa Park on transfer deadline day, joining on a season’s loan that had an obligation to turn into a permanent £35m switch next summer. But just two months into his time in the Midlands, Elliott finds himself at a serious career crossroads and having dropped to fourth-choice in the Aston Villa pecking order.

It’s a dramatic fall from grace for a player, who was often a big impact player during his time at Liverpool and had used the move to the Midlands as a springboard to take his career to the next level.

However, with the likes of Morgan Rogers, Emi Buendia and Ross Barkley all now ahead of him in Unai Emery’s thinking, speculation of a recall to Anfield in the January window has started to gather some pace, with the player having been restricted to just 97 minutes worth of action across three appearances in the Premier League.

Pearce and Fabrizio Romano have now had their say on the player’s future – and both have confirmed that the move to Villa Park does not contain a recall clause in January.

Writing on X, Pearce explained: ‘Harvey Elliott hasn’t played a minute for Villa since late Sep. Needs to make five more appearances for £35m buy option to be triggered. No January break clause, and so far no talks about potentially cancelling the loan.’

That situation has also been backed up by Romano, who, in speaking to Givemesport, says there is little talk of him returning.

“At the moment, it depends on his performances in training.

“The situation is still not changing, and of course, Elliott is not happy.”

Harvey Elliott situation poses huge dilemma

It has become evidently clear that, for whatever reason, Emery simply does not fancy the 22-year-old. While his system often sets Villa up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, the Spaniard’s preference to play Rodgers central and now, Buendia, off the left, has left Elliott as a benchwarmer at best.

The club produced arguably their best performance of the season last time out in thrashing Bournemouth 4-0 at Villa Park, a game in which Buendia was outstanding and also noticeable for the fact that Barkley came off the bench to score his first goal for the club since January.

Elliott, by contrast, has started just once for Villa and is yet to rack up more than 150 minutes in their colours. He is yet to register a goal contribution in that time.

Given that £35m buy option will be triggered by five more appearances, there now looks like serious question marks over whether that will now go through.

Villa could look to cancel the loan and, therefore, their buy obligation, but would Liverpool entertain that idea? The midfielder was sparingly used by Arne Slot last season, and it would be hard to see that situation improving at Anfield now, despite the reigning champions’ very obvious struggle for consistency.

Villa would also be unable to loan Elliott out again, as Premier League rules state that, given he is not owned by the club outright, it would not be in their remit to consider such an option.

Furthermore, having already represented Liverpool this season, prior to the move to Villa Park, FIFA legislation also prevents players from appearing for three different sides in the same season.

As a result, Elliott looks set to remain in turmoil at Villa, and if he sits out the season on the bench without triggering that purchase clause, then he would return to Anfield anyway.

Semenyo to Liverpool chances assessed; Villa chase 48-cap Germany star

Meanwhile, Liverpool have learned their chances of a January move for Antoine Semenyo amid strong new claims that he asked to leave Bournemouth ahead of the winter window, while further details can be provided on the player’s release clause.

Jamie Carragher, though, thinks Slot needs to be a bit more clever in his transfer thinking and he suggests his efforts to bring ‘sexy football’ to the champions has completely backfired, and having torn into the Dutchman’s failure to see which way the game in England was going.

Off the back of that, we’ve assessed Slot’s first nine signings at Anfield and compared them to Jurgen Klopp’s first nine – and the difference is quite striking.

Over at Villa, sources have now revealed fresh Villa interest in a 48-cap international star, which could spell further bad news for Elliott should Emery pull off the deal.