Aston Villa could agree new signing after terminating Harvey Elliott deal
Harvey Elliott has endured a miserable time at Aston Villa after being frozen out by manager Unai Emery.
Elliott joined Villa on loan from Liverpool at the end of the summer transfer window after falling out of favour at Anfield.
An obligation-to-buy clause was included in the deal, meaning the West Midlands side will have to pay £35million to make the move permanent if he makes 10 appearances this season.
However, Elliott hasn’t been selected in Villa’s matchday squad for several weeks, with the 22-year-old appearing increasingly unlikely to seal a permanent switch to Villa Park.
Liverpool have been left fuming with Elliott’s lack of game time, leading to suggestions he could return to Anfield in January.
How Aston Villa could boost their January transfer budget
Former Man City financial adviser Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider Villa could send Elliott back to Liverpool to free up space for a potential new arrival.
Villa are likely to be restrained in January following their previous financial issues.
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson said: “I just find it hard to believe they’ve got a lot of leeway. I don’t think there’s anybody that they could unexpectedly sell.
“It may be that they can unwind the Harvey Elliott deal back to Liverpool. Maybe they’d made an assumption that was going to be a deal that they were going to do.
“Maybe that will give them a bit of capacity, but I’m really sort of stretching here.”
Elliott has made just five appearances for Villa, with his latest outing coming in the Europa League victory over Feyenoord in October.
Aston Villa could agree Morgan Rogers-type signing
Borson suggested Emery’s side could look to agree a Morgan Rogers-type signing after he joined from Middlesbrough for an initial £8m in February 2024.
“I think the likelihood is that they largely go with what they’ve got and maybe find a prospect, a sort of £10-20m player that they’ve done before,” said Borson.
“I mean, they actually did it with Morgan Rogers a couple of seasons ago. They were also restrained that season in that January window.
“I think they only bought Morgan Rogers, if I remember correctly, for £8m. Clearly, that turned out right.
“I think that’s what you should be thinking about rather than are they going to compete for a £60m player. I just don’t see that they can be able to do that.”
Villa sit third in the Premier League table, six points behind leaders Arsenal following their 4-1 defeat against the Gunners on Tuesday (30 December).
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