Arne Slot has opened the door for Harvey Elliott to return and be a part of Liverpool’s plans for 2026/27.
After he secured a loan with obligation to buy move to Aston Villa last September, it had been expected that Elliott‘s time with the Reds had come to an end.
However, after Unai Emery decided he did not fancy the 23-year-old, he has not played enough matches to trigger an agreement between the two clubs.
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This has left Elliott in limbo, wasting a season where he could have either helped Liverpool or played a bigger part elsewhere.
But as Liverpool and Villa prepare to meet on Friday, Slot has confirmed that Elliott will come back ahead of pre-season.
Elliott will come back to Liverpool for pre-season
Given the presence of the easily achievable sell clause, Liverpool will have already been planning for life without Elliott in the squad.
Slot obviously does not rate the former England U21 star, making another move likely before the 26/27 season begins.
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But when asked about Elliott during his pre-Villa press conference, the Dutchman confirmed that, as he remains contracted to Liverpool, he will be unexpectedly back in the fold this summer.
“I think for him, for everyone it didn’t work out how he wanted it, how we wanted it and probably how Villa wanted it, because usually you sign a player to use him, and that hasn’t happened a lot,” Slot said.
“That’s not for me to answer why that is, but of course it’s never nice for a player not to make so many minutes, especially after the season he had for us. He went over there to get more playing time, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.
“For a player who did so well at the [U21] Euros, you want a player like that to get more and more playing time. He went to a very good team where they also have a lot of good players. I don’t know why he didn’t play the minutes he was expecting, but it’s always a pity if a player of that age that has shown he’s such a good player hardly plays for two years.”
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Asked directly whether he will be at Liverpool as preparations for the new season get underway, Slot confirmed that that would be the case.
“He is contracted to us so he will be with us at the start of pre-season, yes,” he answered.
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