Harvey Elliott back to Liverpool makes more sense than rotting in Aston Villa reserves…obviously | OneFootball

Liverpool should recall Harvey Elliott from his disastrous Aston Villa loan, according to former Scotland international Don Hutchison.

Elliott joined Aston Villa on an initial loan deal with an option to buy for £35million, a move that was supposed to offer regular minutes for the first time in his senior career.

Instead, it has become a complete waste of time for everyone involved.

Elliott’s pointless 2025/26: The numbers

Former Liverpool player Hutchison is miffed, like most of us, by Elliott’s lack of minutes at Villa Park this season, where he has barely featured despite being fully fit and available.

The 22-year-old’s last appearance for the Villans came as a substitute for the final four minutes of their Europa League match against Feyenoord on October 2.

His lack of game time is easily explained by Villa’s reluctance to commit to a £35m permanent deal.

But why Villa do not want to sign him permanently is far harder to explain. In fact, it is baffling given Elliott’s technical quality, versatility and potential.

Villans head coach Unai Emery effectively opened the door to Elliott’s exit last week.

“He is on loan playing with us, but he is not definitely adding to us with a permanent contract,” the Villa boss said.

“Hopefully we can get the best for him and the best for us. I respect him as a player and as a person.

“He is training well, but we have one circumstance with him. Hopefully we can get a solution for him to try to play consistently and continue in his career with us or not.”

Slot told who his first January transfer should be

Under FIFA guidelines, Elliott cannot play for another club this season after appearing for Liverpool in August, which makes terminating the loan in January the only logical solution rather than letting him rot in Villa’s reserves for another five months.

Speaking to oddsboom, Hutchison said: “If you’re Liverpool, you’re probably best off bringing him back and keeping him in the squad.

“They only had a short bench at the weekend and that’s probably why Mo Salah was a little fortunate to make it, because [Cody] Gakpo was injured, [Wataru] Endo was injured and [Conor] Bradley was suspended. So I think it would be a good move from Liverpool to bring him back.

“But it’s bizarre how he’s not getting any game time at Villa. The only thing I can put it down to is that, despite his ability and good attitude, he was really close to Diogo Jota and he’s feeling that loss deeply.”

Recalling Elliott makes sense for Liverpool

Liverpool already know Elliott will not be joining Villa permanently and are short of attacking depth as it is, even before factoring in Mohamed Salah’s uncertain future and his likely absence for AFCON with Egypt.

Elliott can play on either wing or in his natural midfield role and offers tactical flexibility that Arne Slot has often lacked this season. He would be a valuable squad option immediately, just as he was during the Reds’ 2024/25 Premier League title-winning campaign.

Which is exactly why it makes too much sense.

So naturally, we fully expect the opposite to happen. Because football.