Harvey Elliott might be going back to Liverpool with uncertainty over his long-term future, but one financial expert has hinted that there could be plenty of interest in him this summer.
The 23-year-old has made just nine appearances during an abortive loan spell at Aston Villa this season, playing no part in their Europa League final victory over Freiburg on Wednesday, and Arne Slot confirmed that the England under-21 international will return to his parent club imminently.
Villa boss Unai Emery openly admitted that the attacker’s loan move to the Midlands was ’embarrassing for everyone involved’, and it now seems unlikely that the Reds would fetch the £35m they reportedly would’ve yielded had his transfer to the Villans become permanent (The Athletic).
Stefan Borson – former financial adviser to Manchester City – believes Liverpool might now be compelled to accept a lower asking price for Elliott, but he’s confident that the player will have no shortage of suitors despite playing so sporadically this season.
He told Football Insider: “With so many of these players now, it becomes a lot about age. [Elliott] is only 23, so I doubt it’ll have that much of an impact. It feels like £25m is achievable. He was only going for £35m anyway, so somebody will take him for £25m.
“Maybe a promoted team or a lower half of the table team, £25m feels like it’s worth a go for him, but it’s been a mess really.”
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In today’s market, a fee of £25m for a 23-year-old Premier League winner with plenty of high-level experience seems quite low, but Elliott’s asking price is bound to be affected by his lack of game-time over the past few months.
Borson’s claims that a ‘promoted’ or ‘lower half’ team could attempt to sign the player would suggest that Coventry or Ipswich might come in for him after going up to the top flight, whilst also giving credence to Mick Brown’s suggestion that Leeds may be a ‘very good destination’ for him.
In an ideal world, the attacker would get a chance at redemption with Liverpool, but realistically it’s hard to envisage that happening, especially if FSG were to stick with Slot going into next season.
Even though Elliott rarely started under the Dutchman last term, there have been quite a few instances in this campaign where fans must’ve wondered how much of an impact he could’ve made had he still been with the Reds, who’ve been impotent up front in quite a lot of matches.
If the 23-year-old is made available for sale this summer at the price point Borson mentioned, we’d be shocked if there wasn’t a lengthy queue of suitors pounding on the door to try and snap him up on a permanent transfer.
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Slott is not interested in improving young talent, he just wants ready made players, look how he has basically got rid of all of the Klopps Kids. We know this Elliott is very talented and Klopp loved him, but no one was getting into the team in front of MO. Now MO is leaving the time is now to give him a proper go in the starting 11, but Slott wants to get rid. What Iraola has done with young players is fantastic, get him in NOW to improve Elliott and possibly save the club 80m.
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