Emery betrayed Elliott with three-word message as Big Six borrowing prompts unthinkable £5m Sancho repeat | OneFootball

Much like Aston Villa probably didn’t consider the prospect of making sure to not even accidentally use Harvey Elliott in five more of their possible 41 games in all competitions for fear of Liverpool coming calling for a £35m bill, Unai Emery likely didn’t intend to lie to the player’s face on what was presumably their first meeting.

“All the best,” said the Spaniard in a video posted to the club’s social channels after the summer transfer window closed. “All the best for you, because then all the best is for us as well.”

Yet there Aston Villa are, third in both the Premier League table and Europa League equivalent, with a run of eight wins in nine games featuring victories over Manchester City and Arsenal, but precisely zero minutes for Elliott.

Their “all the best” has been the worst-case scenario for a 22-year-old who has not featured since October 2 or even made a Premier League matchday squad since October 19.

If anyone would be forgiven for ranting to the media about their perceived poor treatment, it’s the player who left Liverpool in search of more game time and has somehow contrived to find even less. Elliott has been thrown under the open-top bus parade Villa are presumably planning for their upcoming Treble.

But he would ultimately have no leg to stand on with his complaints. While it is curious that Villa committed to such a deal for a player they have almost immediately discarded, any questioning of Emery’s decisions or methods can be counteracted by the results, the performances and the ongoing transformation of a mess he inherited three years ago.

The manager’s fundamental argument, before contemplating the tactical intricacies and other specifics, is that “there are other players performing very well”.

Emiliano Buendia has, in a nutshell, completely f**ked everyone over this season. There is even a Ross Barkley-shaped spanner in the works that few might have foreseen.

But also ahead of Elliott in the pecking order for the positions behind Ollie Watkins is another Big Six loan cast-off who is quietly proving his worth.

Jadon Sancho still has not started a Premier League game for Villa. He was a substituted substitute in his longest top-flight appearance for them so far, and sits uncomfortably between Marco Bizot and Victor Lindelof in terms of minutes played for the club in all competitions this season.

Just a fortnight ago it was written on the BBC that borrowing Sancho and Elliott was ‘looking like expensive mistakes for everyone’. But their situations are not even close to comparable. The former has maximised his scant opportunities in a way the latter has been unable to do.

There was inevitable social media mockery over the original 007 reprising his role with another cameo in which he neither scored nor assisted against Arsenal. But his impact was clear: in the quickly-taken throw-in which maintained Villa pressure before the goal; in his nimble footwork and pass in the build up; in his back-post header which prompted a scramble and ultimately forced the winner.

In the 133 minutes Sancho has spent on a Premier League pitch this season – against Arsenal, Manchester City, Sunderland, Liverpool and Bournemouth, as well as Leeds and Wolves, Aston Villa have scored four times and not conceded once.

Only Ethan Nwaneri – with eight goals for and zero against during his on-field time for Arsenal this season – has a better such record.

It is humble progress for one of the worst Manchester United signings who actual Chelsea spent £5m specifically not to make their problem, but Emery is using Sancho to form some of his Villa solutions.

The same cannot currently be said of Elliott, whose reserve-rotting remains a strange sub-plot in this remarkable campaign.

Villa took a burden off Manchester United with no strings attached beyond this season, and might have already seen enough to make him their own in the summer. They stole a potential jewel from Liverpool with an obligation to buy and are – much like Chelsea did with Sancho – desperately checking the fine print for a way out.

At least Elliott knows now that “all the best” is not actually a binding commitment for a prosperous life together.