Liverpool loanee Harvey Elliott is in an interesting situation at Aston Villa. Due to stipulations in his loan deal, Elliott would see his current arrangement converted into a permanent transfer, should he feature enough times for Villa this season. However, Villa manager Unai Emery does not want that to happen, as pointed out by Liverpool.com.
So most likely, we’re not going to see Elliott feature in the Premier League very much.
Aston Villa at Wolves
Kickoff: 8pm, Fri. Feb 27, Molineux, Wolverhampton, UK
Result Probability: Wolves 24% Aston Villa 50% Draw 26%
PL Standing, Form: Wolves 20th, 10 pts LLDDL Aston Villa 3rd, 51 pts, WLDWD
Aston Villa Team News
The bulk of his appearances will come in the Europa League instead. But Elliott wouldn’t be able to play in the next league fixture (Friday night at Wolverhampton Wanderers) anyway, as he’s now sidelined with an unspecified injury.
“He is not available because of injury,” Emery said at his weekly news conference, ahead of the score draw with Leeds United.
“I was so clear one month ago. I think we must carry on, and of course help him as much as we can. Then, try to make him feel comfortable here.”
Elsewhere backup goalkeeper Marco Bizot is now eligible again, having served his one match ban for getting shown a red card in the FA Cup loss to Newcastle United.
His horrendous challenge on Jacob Murphy back on Feb. 14 raised a lot of eyebrows, and got him sent off.
The rest of the injury/fitness/unavailability situation remains the same, as Emery pointed out on Friday. He said:
“The players who were injured are still being injured – John McGinn, Boubacar Kamara, Youri Tielemans and Alysson.”
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network, RG.org and Ratings.org. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes and the Washington Post.