It's a terrible situation for Elliott. Villa should never have agreed to such a deal and Liverpool are shameful in not looking out for one of their own players. I can't believe a deal can't be agreed between the two clubs.
It was our deal. We wanted to buy him. Liverpool wanted to sell him to us.
The deal was structured so that we could buy him from them without upsetting UEFA, but ballsed it up.
Liverpool have done nothing wrong, apart from being a bit naive.
I disagree. We're FAR from an innocent party here, but until the point he becomes OUR player, he's still THEIR player, and they are acting to the detriment of their player right now. To say they've done nothing wrong is wildly inaccurate, in my opinion.
How many loans have been terminated this window because the players weren't playing enough? Liverpool are making him stay here purely in the hope we get desperate and need to play him, triggering the £35m. Unai has made it clear that's not happening. And to be clear, both parties are well within their rights to take those positions, given that's what the agreement says.
But it's a failure on BOTH parties not to reach an agreement that prevents the player from losing an entire season of his career, for no reason other than the clubs can't find a way to let him play another dozen or so games.
Remember, we haven't reneged on a deal here - we've chosen not to complete the deal WITHIN the terms set out when he signed. Not playing him for 10 games was ALWAYS an option available to us. A shitty option, but an option nonetheless. There was always the slim possibility that the permanent deal wouldn't go ahead. He could have got a serious injury early in the season, for example.
Whatever happens, if Harvey isn't free to contribute for the second half of the season (either here, or at Liverpool), it'll be a pretty shameful chapter in our history, and Liverpool's.
