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Unai Emery has confirmed that Liverpool loanee Harvey Elliott will not be joining the Aston Villa squad for their Europa League match against FC Basel.
The Villa manager also revealed that he's had multiple conversations with the former England youth international regarding his limited game time. Elliott has only made five appearances for Villa this season, but a permanent transfer would be activated should he reach 10 games. The midfielder hasn't been included in any of Villa's last seven Premier League matchday squads, despite being selected for the team's previous five European fixtures this term.
"We are speaking with him and about his situation. He is not here with us," Emery confirmed in his pre-match press conference.
"Hopefully, we can get the best for him and the best for us. I respect him as a player and as a person. He is training well, but we have one circumstance with him.
"Hopefully, we can get a solution for him to try to play consistently and try to continue in his career with us or not. I have spoken with him two or three times about the situation we have with him.
"Firstly, my decision and also the situation. He is on loan playing with us, but he is not definitely adding to us with a permanent contract."
Emery's famous win vs Liverpool
Emery is set to take a trip down memory lane on Thursday evening as he revisits St. Jakob-Park - the stadium where he triumphed over Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool in 2016 to secure his third Europa League trophy - though he's keen to "build a new moment" with Villa.
With four Europa League victories under his belt, three of which were achieved during his tenure at Sevilla, Emery's Villa players have been tipped as early favorites to hoist the trophy this season.
They're gunning for their fifth win in six league phase matches this midweek, a result that could propel them into the top two spots by night's end.
"This competition is so, so special for me, Europe is so special ... Why? Because it gave me a lot, a lot. Trophies, of course, and a lot of experiences," Emery said.
"Every year playing in Europe for me brings the possibility of fantastic memories, and I have enjoyed each year, each competition: Conference League, Champions League, and Europa League.
"It was fantastic for me, and I learnt a lot through Europe and through facing different teams. Of course, here we won the third Europa League with Sevilla, we won here against Liverpool, it was a fantastic day and memory for me.
"To remember it is very good, but, but, in football I want to build a new moment, a new era, a new way, and with Aston Villa I am so, so excited to be playing in Europe ... two years ago in the Conference League, last season in the Champions League, and this year in the Europa League.
"Of course, it is very important for Aston Villa's trajectory, our players' trajectory, and my own trajectory. I'm so, so motivated, and of course playing tomorrow here I can remind myself of the moment I had here ... when we are meeting with the players, we are trying to separate each competition.
"We are focusing, and we are understanding: what does it mean for everybody to play in Europe?"
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