Harvey Elliott might’ve had precious little game-time for Aston Villa this season, but it seems that he made a lasting impression on his teammates in the Midlands.
The England under-21 international left Liverpool for Unai Emery’s side on an initial loan basis at the end of last summer, but the appearances threshold to trigger a permanent transfer hasn’t been met and he’s now set to return to his parent club with uncertainty over his long-term future.
The Villa head coach admitted last week that the transaction has been ’embarrassing for everyone involved’, but at least the abortive loan spell has had something of a happy ending for the 23-year-old as he savoured Europa League success on Wednesday night.
After the victory over Freiburg in Istanbul, Elliott took to Instagram to show his appreciation for the Villa supporters and bask in the club’s European triumph, their first major trophy in 30 years.
His teammate Emi Buendia – who scored the second goal in the 3-0 final win – replied to the Liverpool-owned attacker with a heartfelt endorsement of: ‘You are the best, brother !! 🙌🏼♥️’
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The Argentine may be speaking for himself in this instance, but we’d venture to suggest that his sentiments reflect the general perception of Elliott within the Aston Villa squad, with the Englishman seemingly a very popular figure at Bodymoor Heath.
Emery has publicly praised the 23-year-old’s ‘fantastic’ attitude behind the scenes (Birmingham Live), while journalist Sam Tighe recently proclaimed that the player ‘has handled himself unbelievably well’ considering his unfathomable lack of game-time in the Midlands.
He’s certainly deserved better than to be discarded by Liverpool and by-and-large frozen out at Villa, and we suspect that there’ll be plenty of suitors for him in the summer transfer window if the Reds were to make him available for sale.
Ideally he’d get another chance to prove himself at his parent club, who could certainly have done with his attacking talents in a 2025/26 season which has been rife with flat, impotent performances, although we fear that opportunity will be denied to him for as long as Arne Slot is in charge.
Elliott retains plenty of popularity among fans, journalists and pundits, but what he now needs the most is a manager who demonstrably shows him the same level of appreciation.
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