Fabrizio Romano CONFIRMS Richard Hughes' latest transfer mistake

Liverpool spent £450m last summer on new players - but Arne Slot’s Premier League title winners are largely worse off this term.

The Anfield side are well off the pace at the top of the table - stuck in fourth place following a drab 0-0 draw with Leeds on Thursday.

Richard Hughes’ choices have not yet paid off - Hugo Ekitike aside - and we are still waiting to see the best of Florian Wirtz and others on a consistent basis.

Liverpool’s outgoing business was not great either with Luis Diaz excelling at Bayern Munich - proving he still had something to offer on Merseyside.

And Liverpool’s loan players are having a tough old time of it - with James McConnell returning to the club after a poor six months at Ajax.

Harvey Elliott's nightmare loan

Harvey Elliott is also experiencing a nightmare spell on loan at Aston Villa - who have dropped the 22-year-old out of first-team contention.

Unless he plays 10 matches - which right now looks a remote possibility then Unai Emery’s side will not complete a permanent £35m deal.

Instead it looks likely that the playmaker will return to Anfield if an agreement can be reached with Villa to terminate the loan. What happens after that is uncertain given Elliott has already represented two clubs during the 2025/25 season.

Having played for Liverpool and Villa the England under-21 hero is not eligible to play for a third team this season.

His only option for regular game time would be at a club in a league such as MLS or the Brasileiro - whose calendars overlap the regular European season.

Fabrizio Romano confirms Charlotte's Elliott offer

It would appear that Dean Smith’s Charlotte FC are now the leading candidates to land Elliott on loan - which would be a remarkable deal for a side eliminated in Round One of the MLS playoffs last season.

“Charlotte FC are prepared to offer Harvey Elliott the chance to play on loan in MLS until June,” Fabrizio Romano writes on X.

“Elliott, likely to return to Liverpool after being unused at Aston Villa on loan. Decision up to the player.”

This is not the outcome Elliott - nor Liverpool - will have had in mind when his exit was confirmed last summer.

Under contract until 2027 Elliott was supposed to find his feet during a one-year loan spell at Villa before continuing on with what should be a successful career. Instead he is facing a sticky situation and Liverpool are counting the cost of missing out on £35m.

The best solution at this point would not be for Elliott to head off to MLS however. He should be reintegrated into the first-team setup at Liverpool as he still has got plenty to offer during the second half of the season.

Liverpool must bring Harvey Elliott back

Villa are not playing Elliott because they do not want to pay big money for him; it’s not because he’s a bad player. Indeed with Liverpool occasionally looking short of options in midfield and attack Elliott could boost their numbers and their quality.

If an outbound deal is concluded for Mo Salah - or Federico Chiesa for that matter - then a space could open up for Elliott to make an impact.

We know he’s got limitations in terms of pace - with Slot preferring quicker players like Jeremie Frimpong these days - but he’s got a lot of quality on the ball.

He hasn’t been given a chance to show that under Emery at Villa Park and Slot was reluctant to offer him significant minutes during the Premier League title-winning campaign either.

Nonetheless Elliott would be hungry to succeed and show suitors he’s a player worth taking on. And given that he loves the club he would no doubt give his all in the meantime.

Liverpool have got no chance of making £35m on Elliott next summer - with a year left on his deal. But they can bring him home in order to boost his value and give their own season the creative spark it’s been missing.

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