Harvey Elliott was spotted posting online during Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Aston Villa.
The Premier League encounter saw the Englishman miss out on the encounter entirely as the Reds got back to winning ways.
Goals provided by Ryan Gravenberch and Mo Salah pushed Arne Slot’s men back into the top four.
Elliott joined the Villans on loan in the summer, with the agreement including an obligation to buy.
Could Harvey Elliott return to Liverpool?
The Athletic reported on Thursday (13 November) that there isn’t a recall clause for Liverpool to activate in the Young Lions international’s season-long loan.
In worse news for Harvey Elliott – neither the Reds nor Aston Villa have indicated that they’d be prepared to cut the deal short.
| Games | Was Harvey Elliott included in the squad? |
| Man City (H) | No |
| Liverpool (A) | No |
| Maccabi Tel Aviv (H) | Yes (*no minutes played) |
| Bournemouth (H) | No |
* Aston Villa’s last four games in all competitions (as of 14/11/2025), via Transfermarkt
Despite having been excluded from the squad entirely in three of the Villans’ last four games (across all competitions), this tells us that Unai Emery believes his loan star still has a future at the club.
The question is now whether or not the footballer can adjust to the Spanish head coach’s ‘strict footballing demands’.
A definitive decision on that front is highly unlikely to come before January. So we should assume that Elliott will be allowed to stick things out at Villa Park for the foreseeable future.
What did Harvey Elliott post during Liverpool vs Aston Villa
The on-loan Liverpool midfielder jumped onto Instagram stories to share a screenshot of the game mid-action.
To be clear, the scoreline was level with only 17 minutes on the clock, as Elliott posted a couple of love heart emojis.
A fair show of neutrality towards his parent club and the outfit he could yet end up joining permanently come the summer transfer window.
Why wasn’t Elliott playing against Liverpool?
The rules around loan deals meant that the 22-year-old was ineligible to face his parent club.
However, putting that aside, Harvey Elliott has still struggled to accrue regular minutes under Unai Emery in the 2025/26 season.
| Harvey Elliott stats |
| 5 appearances |
| 168 minutes |
| 1 goal |
* Harvey Elliott stats at Aston Villa in the 2025/26 season (Fotmob)
Villa staff have, despite that, been reportedly impressed with what they’ve seen from the young footballer.
But that’s hardly been reflected in his match minutes so far this season, which is hardly encouraging as far as hitting the 10 appearances target is concerned.
There’s a long season ahead, of course, and we’re all too aware at Anfield of Elliott’s talents and ability.
Is there space at Liverpool?
The picture doesn’t look any prettier for the Young Lions star over in Merseyside, given the multiplicity of top midfielders in Slot’s squad.
There’s perhaps an argument to be made that Harvey would be particularly suitable as backup to the profile Florian Wirtz offers.
| Liverpool midfielders | Minutes |
| Dominik Szoboszlai | 1,260 |
| Florian Wirtz | 948 |
| Ryan Gravenberch | 844 |
| Alexis Mac Allister | 726 |
| Curtis Jones | 631 |
| Wataru Endo | 235 |
* Liverpool midfielders ranked by minutes played (in all competitions) in the 2025/26 season (Transfermarkt)
However, one gets the impression that the footballer is very keen on securing a more regular supply of minutes in the English top-flight.
He’s unlikely to get that at Liverpool, but things clearly need to change, given he’s currently on fewer minutes than Wataru Endo.
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The lad doesn’t look right, come back to LFC xxxx
It’s a “Loan to buy” situation as far as I’m aware.
That means after the loan period, if Villa don’t want him, he can return and Villa will owe us a sizeable fee for kb-ing the a full contract.
Maybe there’ll be some confirmation in the summer ?
We’d love to have Harvey back at Liverpool ASAP. He fitted in well with our guys and we need him for sure
Certainly we need a RW and cover for Mo’ and Fed.
Olise, Semeyo or Nico Williams have been touted. Physically stronger and perhaps faster players.
Not prefer any of them ?
After watching us beat villa on Saturday and looking at how poor they were in midfield, you have to ask why wasn’t Elliott playing. Another question is was wirtz worth paying 116 million to replace Elliott?
Very similar players, Elliott for some reason never got enough game time under slot, maybe the midfield was weaker with Elliott. yet the manager wanted to pay big money on wirtz who honestly is no better than Elliott. Slot never wanted Elliott but wanted to pay 116 million for an identical player who isn’t as
good. That 116 million should have been spent on central defence and better midfielders. How many clubs pay 116 million for a player who cant get into the team because he makes it worse.
Elliot’s on loan @Villa, rm.
There no question to ask about Wirtz.
He’s a higher quality player and worth the £116m (by today’s prices).
End of.
It will be proven and has been said by those far more in the know than myself or you.
We saw what he can do with that ball he played to Cody vs E.Frankfurt.
It’s being held back for now.
Are these questions, rhetorical, aiming to cause consternation, or do you really not know ?
If the latter, is continually flaunting ignorance a good look for you ?
Maybe it’s the Old Trafford RedMist, Ja ?
It would make perfect sense why he keeps turning up with the half-baked mono-mind stuff.
Elliot was the perfect fill-in for Salah when his form dropped or, for example, when he goes to AFCON or gets injured.
Harvey has talent for sure (e.g. sub appearance v PSG or playing for England U21s, plus more!). I was gutted for Harvey, as he is for himself, that he didn’t earn more minutes for Liverpool, leading to better consistency. He’s better in a Red shirt for sure he needs to return to Anfield. YNWA.