Liverpool castaway learns his fate after what's happened this season

Liverpool went through a lot of change at the start of the 2025-26 season.

Most fans thought that they'd easily retain the Premier League title but, due to a number of reasons, this clearly hasn't happened.

The sheer number of injuries that the Anfield outfit have suffered is unlikely to have helped matters much but, the fact that several players were brought in and sold on by Richard Hughes will have also unsettled things.

Some of the transfers which have taken place worked out for both parties but, there have been a couple which have fallen below expectations an for one of Liverpool's departures, things only seem to be getting worse.

Leeds United will not be able to afford Harvey Elliott during the summer transfer window

The 2025-26 season was supposed to be the one when Harvey Elliott excelled.

The Englishman chose to exit Liverpool in order to earn some more play time so that he could try and make England's World Cup squad.

Most Liverpool fans thought that Elliott's move to Aston Villa would've been exactly what he needed but, since Unai Emery doesn't rate the midfielder all that much, the obligation to buy which was put into the deal is unlikely to be activated.

And, although this is a good thing for the 22-year-old as he clearly isn't wanted, it feels like he's wasted the entire season.

Talk of a potential move to Dean Smith's Charlotte FC was discussed during the January transfer window but, in the end, nothing came to fruition.

This has caused rumours to arise about his future with one Premier League club already being ruled out of the transfer chase.

That is, according to an update from BBC Sport who share that the £35 million fee that Villa have agreed in their obligation to buy would be 'too high' for the West Yorkshire outfit.

"[There is] Some focus on a potential summer move for Harvey Elliott and whether that's realistic," Adam Pope wrote.

"Bearing in mind Aston Villa have an obligation to buy Elliott for £35m from Liverpool after his loan spell at the end of the season should he make 10 appearances, I would think that the valuation would be too high for Leeds United if they wanted him.

"Elliott, 22, has a year left on his contract at Anfield where the hierarchy have shown they are content to sell.

"However, Villa have effectively put the deal and Elliott's career on hold by not playing him with head coach Unai Emery admitting the clash between the sporting and business decision is damaging the attacking midfielder.

In the plus column Elliott could be seen a decent signing because he has made more than 200 senior appearances for Liverpool, Fulham, Blackburn Rovers and now Aston Villa.

"His playing time will be limited for the rest of this campaign as it is understood that Villa chose not to terminate Elliott's loan from Liverpool during the January window, to avoid paying an early termination penalty.

"But Leeds United's priorities would appear to lie elsewhere this summer."

Harvey Elliott's future lies in the balance at Liverpool

When Elliott's transfer to Villa Park was confirmed, most fans thought that his move to Villa was going to become permanent.

The Englishman only had to play 10 games across all competitions for the Villans so that their obligation to buy would be triggered.

This felt guaranteed to happen, but, now that Emery is refusing to play the youngster, it seems like he and Slot will have a decision to make upon his Liverpool return.

The main reason Elliott was moved on in the summer was because Florian Wirtz and Dominik Szoboszlai were going to be chosen ahead of him in his preferred role.

However, since his future is still undecided, the 22-year-old could end up forcing his way back into Slot's plans and even put himself back on the market for a summer transfer.

There's still a lot of things that need to be answered about Elliott over the next few months but, if he can reach the same levels he showed when Jurgen Klopp was in charge, it's hard to see how the Englishman won't have a queue of teams waiting to sign him this summer.

That is, even if a transfer to Leeds is now off the table.

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