Harvey Elliott (signed on loan)

[PaulWinch again]

He's been a complete waste of money so far as he never gets a chance to show us what he can, or can't, do.

Well it depends - if this is all about bedding in, understanding tactical expectations etc and it basically gives him the foundation to have a brilliant career at Villa it’s probably a necessary thing and not a waste. If, however, he makes no impact and this is just Unai doesn’t rate him then a massive waste. We shall see.

[Drummond]

He's been a complete waste of money so far as he never gets a chance to show us what he can, or can't, do.

Or perhaps he's showing the person that actually matters, who's turning him into the next big thing.

[Crown Hill]

It’s gone on so long now that even I’m starting to believe this appearance clause and wondering if that was the last straw for Monchi’s position when the Club worked out we had signed a player we can’t use!

[SoccerHQ]

Can we send him back in January and use the money elsewhere,

There will probably be a clause, possibly if he's featured in less than ten games by the time January comes around?

Wonder what wages we are paying him? It's been commonly reported we're paying 80% of Sancho's.

This is where any neutral sympathy for us regarding PSR complaints goes out of the window I think.

[Somniloquism]

In theory it would be whatever wages he was on at Liverpool which as he came through the academies, wouldn't be massive compared to Sancho making a £70mil move to a "rich" team. Someone mentioned 40k previously.

[chrisw1]

It's very odd.  He looks like a good player, but the lack of minutes seems to go beyond 'bedding in' now.

[eye digress]

It's very odd.  He looks like a good player, but the lack of minutes seems to go beyond 'bedding in' now.

And he scored one of those things when he actually did play.

[Dave]

In theory it would be whatever wages he was on at Liverpool which as he came through the academies, wouldn't be massive compared to Sancho making a £70mil move to a "rich" team. Someone mentioned 40k previously.

Those internet sites that work out / guess what players earn have him at around £60,000 at Liverpool, so I imagine he would ask for more than that to move to us.

He also didn't come through their academy - they signed him from (the fringes of) Fulham's first team.

[OCD]

It’s gone on so long now that even I’m starting to believe this appearance clause and wondering if that was the last straw for Monchi’s position when the Club worked out we had signed a player we can’t use!

Last night put me into this camp. There's no way he's not involved in that game without a better explanation than bedding in.

[Somniloquism]

They signed him 6 years ago when he was 16 so I would argue he has come through their acadamy the same with any of the players we have signed from elsewhere in that age bracket has come through ours, like Bogarde.

[Dave]

They signed him 6 years ago when he was 16 so I would argue he has come through their acadamy the same with any of the players we have signed from elsewhere in that age bracket has come through ours, like Bogarde.

I'd argue that you need to spend a period of time playing for academy teams to "come through an academy". He was a first-team player at Fulham, went straight into the Liverpool first team squad, spent a year playing in the Championship for Blackburn and then straight back into the Liverpool first team squad. I think he might have played a dozen or so games in their U23s.

I'd say it's bit more like saying that Duran came through our academy than the Bogarde comparison - he was signed very young, but he was signed very young to be in the first-team squad rather than the academy.

[Chris Smith]

How long did Tielemans have to wait before Emery trusted him? I think it’s as simple as that. He plays in such a key position and until Unai has 100% confident that he is ready he’ll be a bit-part player at best. I imagine if the team had done their jobs properly last night then he’d have been in line for a run out for the last 15.