Harvey Elliott (signed on loan)

[Beard82]

Liverpool could play hardball and say "tough shit, your problem, soz" - purely because if they accept him back, he can't play anywhere else until next season

Even if that happens, it’s still better for us to just pay him until June 30th, not play him, and avoid paying £30/35m for a player Unai clearly does not rate (or at least would rather spend that money elsewhere).

Indeed.  The current position for Liverpool, if they say "no thanks" in January, is that we don't play him for the rest of the season, we just pay his wages while he sits in the stands, and he goes back to Liverpool in the summer as a depreciated asset because we don't trigger his release clause. 

In that situation, absolutely no one wins. We all lose. Liverpool get zero transfer revenue and a player back next summer worth less than he is today.  We don't get to use the player, despite paying his wages.  And the player himself loses a year of his career.  It's a bad situation all around.

But if we can come to some sort of commercial arrangement where Liverpool DO take him back, he can at least fight for minutes in Salah's AFCON absence, maybe get a few appearances to keep his value high if they get a few injuries or long cup runs.  It will cost us to do that, definitely, but if the cost is less than all of his wages for the rest of the year, then it's a deal worth doing.  Personally, if they were willing to take him back I'd be willing to pay all of his wages for the rest of the season at the very least, just to free up a loan slot that we maybe CAN use.

Another alternative is we negotiate away the buy-clause, and simply pay a loan fee for the season, so he can play in the second half of the season, but we're not obliged to buy him in the June.  But honestly, I think we risk a demotivated player in that circumstance, so it's almost as bad as having him here not playing.

If the club can do some sort of miracle deal where we can just hand him back and pay nothing, I will be both amazed, and hugely impressed - but honestly, I hope as much for Harvey's sake that the clubs find a way to at least give him a CHANCE of playing in the second half of the season.  I have a lot of sympathy for the kid's current predicament.

Smithy analysis will be studied for years to come - its like "The Prisoner Dilemma". 

[Ian.]

Now you’ve sort this saga out Smithy, please can you address the Watkins thread.

He'll get to it at the weekend, he's busy sorting out the Russia-Ukraine conflict atm.

He needs to learn which priorities are more demanding!

[ChicagoLion]

Pretty sure his contract and that between us and Liverpool covers all possibilities.

[Dante Lavelli]

What would a club pay for him next summer?  i reckon it’s now closer to £25m than £35m unless he has a storming 2026.  Therefore it is in  Liverpool’s interests to renegotiate the deal.  The salah thing also changes the dynamic, as he could be off in January, and Elliot was previously his understudy.