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Unai Emery has hinted that Aston Villa may have to make a decision on Harvey Elliott's future in the January transfer window.
Elliott, who joined Villa on a season-long loan on deadline day, has only made five appearances for the West Midlands club and hasn't been included in the last four Premier League matchday squads. Despite being ineligible to play against his parent club Liverpool, Elliott was also omitted from the squad for matches against Manchester City, Bournemouth, and Leeds.
If Elliott makes 10 appearances for Villa, the club will be required to pay £35 million ($46.3 million) to sign the 22-year-old permanently.
This has led to speculation that Emery is limiting Elliott's game time due to uncertainty over whether the midfielder would be a long-term asset to his squad.
"We now have a lot of matches," Emery said when asked if Elliott has a future with Villa.
"We must focus on each match with the players we have now
"We are not thinking about the transfer window in January.
"He is one of our players, and hopefully he can help us. Then, we are going to decide."
When asked what Elliott needs to do to secure more playing time, Emery replied: "Firstly, there are other players performing very well.
"This is the first argument of why he is not playing. He is training very well every day."
Elliott was not included in the Villa squad for their recent trip to Elland Road, with 18-year-old George Hemmings taking his place instead.
This represents the nadir of Elliott's tenure at Villa thus far, and he evidently has a significant task ahead to impress Emery in the forthcoming weeks.
Villa has a packed schedule with six matches in 17 days, culminating in a Premier League clash against Manchester United before Christmas.
Elliott played 149 times for Liverpool and was part of the squad that won the Premier League title in 2020 and 2025. He won various other honors at Anfield, including the Carabao Cup twice.
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