Arne Slot has outlined his plan for Harvey Elliott once the Liverpool midfielder’s loan at Aston Villa expires at the end of the season.
Elliott, 23, has endured a torrid time at Villa Park, struggling for game time since his summer move, which included a £5million losn fee and an obligation to buy worth £35million if he played 10 league games.
As such, he has hardly featured under Unai Emery, who has repeatedly said publicly that he does not want to sign Elliott permanently.
"The problem we have with Harvey is that this year he is on loan, and in case he plays matches we must buy him," Emery said back in January.
"We decided two months ago that we are not convinced to sign him, spending the money we would need to sign him.
"This is the only issue. He is training every day, always every day with very good behaviour and to help us in training sessions.
"This is not something good for him and good for us, but this is football and sometimes we must take some decisions which are not good for everyone."
Elliott has played nine games in all competitions for Villa. Four in the Premier League, four in the Europa League, and the other in the Carabao Cup, where he scored the only goal of his temporary spell at Brentford.
Now, before Liverpool travel to Villa for a huge game in the race to qualify for the Champions League, Slot has confirmed that there is a plan for Elliott when he returns to Anfield in the summer.
“I think for him, everyone, [the loan] didn't work as out as we wanted it,” Slot said.
“Usually [clubs] sign a player or loan to use him, but that hasn't happened a lot.
“[It’s] not for me to answer why that it is, but it is never nice [to not play] many minutes. I assume he played more with us last season and he went there for more time.
“Such a talented player, he did so well at the Under-21 Euros. You want a player like that to play more. But he went to a good team with a lot of good players.
“It is always a pity when a player like that doesn't play a lot. The plan for next season? He is contracted to us so he will be with us at the start of next season.”
The Reds currently sit in fourth in the Premier League table, level on points with Emery’s men, who lie in fifth.
As it stands, both would qualify for Europe’s top competition thanks to the Premier League’s ranking in UEFA’s coefficient standings.
A win for either side would guarantee their Champions League place, leaving the losers to potentially battle it out on the final day with Bournemouth and Brighton.
