£35m Liverpool midfielder deal under THREAT

Although Liverpool spent around £450m in the summer transfer window - breaking the British transfer record twice - the club also managed to recoup plenty of money in sales.

The likes of Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez headed the departures - with other exits also including Caoimhin Kelleher, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Tyler Morton and Ben Gannon-Doak.

Overall sporting director Richard Hughes managed to put away around £200m in transfer income - significantly offsetting the outlay on new players.

Harvey Elliott deal includes £35m clause

But the Reds are expecting to cash in again next summer on one player who has already taken his Anfield leave. The player in question is Harvey Elliott - the 22-year-old who joined Aston Villa after six years on Merseyside.

Elliott left for the Villans on an initial one-season loan deal - with a permanent transfer looking all but inevitable at the end of the 2025/26 campaign.

If the England under-21 playmaker managed to play 10 matches then a £35m deal would be activated. But Liverpool should have legitimate fears right now that a £35m deal won’t get done next summer.

Harvey Elliott's Villa career has stalled

Elliott’s Villa career has stalled - playing nowhere near the amount of football he would have expected when leaving the Premier League champions.

Having sat on the bench through an embarrassing loss to the Go Ahead Eagles in the UEFA Europa Conference League on Thursday, Elliott was left out of the squad entirely when Villa beat Manchester City in the Premier League at the weekend.

That spells danger for Liverpool - according to a new report in Football Insider which claims that unless things turn around dramatically then Elliott will be back at Liverpool in 2026.

Elliott well down the pecking order

He has managed only five appearances for the former European champions to this point and right now it doesn’t appear that manager Unai Emery has got plans to include him again.

Morgan Rogers, Emi Buendia and Ross Barkley are all ahead of Elliott in the midfield pecking order.

And - given Villa’s precarious financial situation - they may deem it better to leave him out rather than pay £35m for a player the manager doesn’t really fancy.

If he returns to Anfield then Elliott will only have one year left on his contract - meaning a severely diminished fee for Liverpool in the even they manage to sell him to another club.

🔴 Shop the LFC 2025/26 adidas home range

👉🏻 Liverpool have a NEW right-back and he's the best in the world

👉🏻 Marc Guehi is COMING: Liverpool will agree deal to sign England star

👉🏻 Liverpool legend's son is now an elite centre-back