The most disastrous deal of the Premier League season: Harvey Ellliott facing an uncertain future at Liverpool after being ostracised by Aston Villa

Just before leaving Liverpool in May 2024, Jurgen Klopp was asked if he had any regrets. The Kop idol replied, "It's not like I go back and think, 'Where did we go wrong here and there?' But if I regret one thing a little bit it's that Harvey didn't play often enough, maybe.

"In a very important and intense period in January when we had a lot of injuries, he played really good, probably our best player, whether it was right wing or right midfield, all these kind of things. [Then], everybody came back and he had a few minutes here and there and didn't start any more."

Elliott certainly bore no ill-will towards Klopp, though. The childhood Liverpool fan was immensely grateful to a man he's repeatedly labelled a "legend" for "helping me live my dream" and says he's surprised that there still isn't a statue of Klopp outside Anfield.

Elliott's career was also in a very promising place at the end of 2023-24 campaign. He'd just featured in a career-high 53 games across a single season and, at 21 years of age, was being tipped to play a major role under Klopp's successor, given he appeared ideally suited to the No.10 role within Slot's system.

Elliott's pre-season performances only strengthened that belief, as he exhibited the mix of industry and innovation the former Feyenoord coach wanted in an attacking midfielder.

"[We're] playing out from the back, getting him in the right positions, so then it is up to him to make the most out of these situations and he did that today with two assists," Slot said after Elliott created both goals in Liverpool's 2-1 friendly win over Arsenal in Philadelphia on August 1, 2024.

However, when the 2024-25 season began, Elliott found himself back on the bench, and played just seven minutes of Liverpool's opening three games before suffering a foot fracture while training with England's Under-21s.

The injury couldn't have come at a worse time for Elliott, as Slot intended to call upon him more regularly during a run of seven games in 21 days for the Reds.

By the time he returned to action, Liverpool were flying, with pressing machine Dominik Szoboszlai excelling in the No.10 role, and Mohamed Salah arguably in the form of his life on the right wing, meaning there was no chance of Elliott playing regularly in either position - which felt like the story of his Anfield career.

Elliott issued a timely reminder of his quality by coming off the bench to net a late winner in the Champions League last-16 first leg against Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes, but it was telling that the only Premier League games he started all season came after the Reds had wrapped up the title.

Slot had quite clearly deemed him surplus to requirements and the summer signing of Florian Wirtz meant that a move wasn't just inevitable, it was essential for Elliott.

Elliott remained one of the most talented young players in the world, though - that was simply beyond dispute. For example, both Tino Livramento and Elliot Anderson were excellent for England at the 2025 European Under-21 Championship - but Elliott was the undoubted star of the show.

He was named Player of the Tournament as he lifted the trophy for the second time and his outstanding displays in Slovakia led to interest from RB Leipzig, who were looking for a replacement for the outgoing Xavi Simons.

Given the German club's stellar reputation for nurturing young players, a move to the Red Bull Arena would have made perfect sense. However, Leipzig were reportedly unwilling to meet Liverpool's asking price.

Of course, Villa had their own financial concerns but convinced Liverpool to accept a loan deal with a £35m obligation to buy as soon as Elliott reached 10 appearances in all competitions for the club - which felt like a formality even before he featured in the first three Premier League games he was eligible to play in after completing a deadline-day move to Birmingham.

However, the first sign that Unai Emery was dissatisfied with Elliott had actually arrived in his third league outing, with Villa's new No.9 hauled off at half-time in the 3-1 win over Fulham. He's started just once since, in a Europa League game against Salzburg on January 29.

By that stage, Elliott was desperately hoping to return to Anfield, with Villa making it clear that they'd rather leave him sitting in the stands than pay the agreed fee in light of their issues with their Premier League's Profit & Sustainability Regulations (PSR).

Emery even revealed in February, just after the winter transfer window closed, that Villa had spent the previous three months trying to convince Liverpool to remove the appearance-related obligation to buy from Elliott's contract.

The Reds refused to do so, as was their prerogative. Despite Emery's attempts to argue otherwise, the onus wasn't on the Merseysiders to change the terms of the deal because of financial problems that had absolutely nothing to do with them.

It was very much a mess all of Monchi's making, as Villa's former sporting director had simply signed a player that the coach didn't want, meaning it made neither sporting nor financial sense for the club to sign Elliott on a permanent basis.

The problem, of course, is that while both clubs have been looking out for their own interests, Elliott's have been completely disregarded.

Emery even admitted that they were "damaging" a "good guy and a fantastic professional", who, after helping his country's Under-21s win more silverware last summer, had high hopes of doing likewise with the senior side at the 2026 World Cup. Instead, Elliott is facing an uncertain future after losing an entire year of his career through no fault of his own.

Clearly, Liverpool could have done with some of his creativity and aggression during a calamitous campaign in which several attackers have struggled for form and fitness, but Elliott seems to have no chance of ever playing for the club again while Slot is still the manager.

Indeed, when asked about Elliott's situation ahead of Liverpool's trip to Villa Park, Slot was noncommittal. The Dutchman would only say that Elliott was "contracted to us" so he will return to the club ahead of the start of next season, and that it was "a pity" that the forward has "hardly played for two years".

The hope, then, is that there is some truth to the recent rumours that Leipzig remain interested in signing the 23-year-old and could belatedly help Elliott get back on track.

Whether a fee can be agreed with Liverpool this time around remains unclear, though. Sadly, the one thing we know for sure right now is that Elliott's move to Villa Park ranks as the most disastrous deal of the Premier League season purely from a player's perspective.