Harvey Elliott loves Liverpool, but now he can’t wait to leave the club.
The midfielder has told the staff and the higher-ups he wants to leave before Tuesday’s transfer deadline, after falling out of the first-team picture and barely playing football for two years.
The 23-year-old has agreed personal terms with Valencia, and negotiations between the clubs are now at an advanced stage. Napoli and Lazio had also shown interest in him but Valencia are his preferred destination.
It appears, though, that only a loan move is possible for Valencia currently. But if Elliott spends a year in Spain he will be a free agent by next summer, when his contract expires. He would then be able to make his own decision as to where next to go.
Elliott struggled to secure gametime under Arne Slot and had to leave for Aston Villa on loan. However, the Midlands club were unwilling to trigger a clause in his contract tied to his appearances, which would have obliged them to sign him permanently. So they stopped playing him.
The midfielder played only 109 Premier League minutes and 284 minutes in all competitions for the entire season at Villa. He made just one league start, which against Fulham in September where he was substituted at half-time.
Villa boss Unai Emery described the situation as “embarrassing for everyone involved”.
“My apologies for Harvey Elliott are, every day, in my mind,” Emery said. “How the season has gone has been difficult.”
Liverpool have a Harvey Elliott-sized problem
Commenting on his situation at the time, Slot said: “He’s contracted to us so he will be with us at the start of the season. I think for him, for everyone, it didn’t work out as he wanted it, as we wanted it and probably also how Villa wanted it, because you usually sign a player or bring him in on loan to use him.
“That hasn’t happened a lot. That’s not for me to answer why that is. But of course, it’s never nice for a player not to make so many minutes, especially after the season he had with us, where he made, I assume, even more minutes with us than these 280. He went over there to get more playing time, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.”
Elliott had an encouraging pre-season, including getting an assist against Sunderland, but ultimately he has also been unable to secure a place in Andoni Iraola’s plans. He was left out of the squad for the Premier League opener at Newcastle.
“With Harvey, I can only choose 20,” Iraola explained. “Harvey is trying and improving every week but I still prefer other options, about the balance on the bench. That’s why James McConnell was in the squad, but it’s now another new week and new chances for everyone. They have to keep that mentality.”
It has been an upsetting situation for a talented midfielder who captained the England Under-21s to victory at the 2025 European Championship, where he was named player of the tournament.
He has always been a Liverpool fan, but now his fortunes lie elsewhere.
