“It’s not changing” – Unai Emery unrelenting in his stance on Harvey Elliott despite squad recall

Unai Emery has insisted that Harvey Elliott’s bleak situation at Aston Villa is ‘not changing’ despite the player getting a long-overdue recall to the matchday squad last weekend.

The 22-year-old left Liverpool for the Midlands five months ago on an initial loan basis with a view to a permanent transfer once he made 10 appearances, but he’s been stuck on half of that tally since early October, and Arne Slot has shown no appetite to recall him from Villa Park.

He was at least named among the substitutes for his loan club’s 2-0 win at Newcastle on Sunday – his first inclusion in a matchday squad for two months – but was unsurprisingly not called upon by the Spaniard at St James’ Park.

Emery: Elliott situation isn’t going to change

With Elliott again left in limbo after rumours of interest from Charlotte FC in MLS earlier this month amounted to nothing, Emery has spoken out about the player’s situation, insisting that he doesn’t intend to change his stance on the 22-year-old.

The Villa head coach said (via The Athletic): “There are still five days to finish the window. Everything we accepted before,. Only some injuries can change it, like Douglas Luiz is a player joining us because we had injuries in centre midfield.

“With Harvey, it’s not changing. Our idea is that we spoke to him clearly. He’s a fantastic guy. On Sunday, he was on the bench, and if we needed some help from him, he was ready to do it. He is in the squad tomorrow [v Salzburg], but the situation is not changing for him that he has now.”

Elliott left in limbo by unappreciative bosses

It’d seem that Elliott’s inclusion in matchday squads this week is nothing more than him filling a slot which has been made available by injuries elsewhere, and that Emery doesn’t intend to hand him any more minutes on the pitch unless he absolutely has no other choice.

Slot hasn’t been inclined to bring him back to Liverpool, and Villa would have to pay a fee in order to terminate the loan agreement (which doesn’t contain a recall option), so it appears that the 22-year-old will continue to be left out in the cold for the remainder of the 2025/26 season.

He can’t go to any other club in Europe, having already played for two in this campaign, and a move outside the continent now seems increasingly unlikley with so little time remaining in the transfer window.

It must be soul-destroying for Elliott to know that both Emery and Slot have effectively cast him aside and that, barring an improbable occurrence in the next five days, he’ll be left stewing for another few months until the summer.

It’s a disgraceful waste of a wonderful talent, whose main motivation between now and June might well be to train to the maximum with a view to being signed by a club where he might hopefully be shown the appreciation he deserves.

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