Unai Emery says Harvey Elliott’s Villa loan has been ‘embarrassing’ for all involved | OneFootball

Unai Emery said Harvey Elliott’s stalled Aston Villa loan has been embarrassing for all concerned as his team prepare to face Liverpool, the midfielder’s parent club.

As reported by ExpressAndStar.com, the Villa head coach added that he apologises to Elliott in his mind every day and framed the episode as a shared responsibility between Villa and Liverpool.

Elliott, 23, has featured only nine times since arriving on a season-long loan from the Reds in September, with just 109 minutes in the Premier League for the former England under-21.

A clause in his deal required Villa to buy him permanently for £30 million once he passed a set appearance threshold. Emery quickly decided against triggering it, and efforts to persuade Liverpool to remove the clause were unsuccessful.

Speaking on Thursday, Emery declined to spell out the reasons, saying this was not the time to do so, and said the campaign had been difficult on a human level.

Source: ExpressAndStar.com