Simon Jordan has defended Unai Emery over Harvey Elliott’s lack of minutes at Aston Villa, saying a £35m Liverpool clause isn’t the reason he’s been frozen out
Simon Jordan has advised Liverpool loanne Harvey Elliott to make himself indispensable to Unai Emery if he wants more playing time at Aston Villa. The pundit was reacting to Emery’s remarks ahead of Villa’s Europa League clash with FC Basel when he stated that Elliott’s ongoing omission was due to sporting reasons and not out of concern over triggering the £35m obligation to buy.
Since his transfer deadline day loan from Liverpool, the 22-year-old has only made five appearances and hasn’t played at all for the past two months, falling completely out of Emery’s matchday Premier League squad.
This has left Elliott in a state of uncertainty, seemingly unwanted by Villa but unable to switch to another club due to regulations that prevent a player from representing more than two clubs in a single season. He was a late substitute in the Reds’ dramatic win at Newcastle United in August.
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When asked on talkSPORT if Elliott had been ‘sold a pup’ by Villa, the former Crystal Palace owner defended the club, reports Birmingham Live.
“I don’t see why they would have been. Aston Villa are flying. What are they third in the Premier League, third in the Europa League? He can’t get in the team,” Jordan said on the White and Jordan Show.
“That’s just an unfortunate set of circumstances that the players that are ahead of him are doing so well.
“What would you do? Take them out of the team, break up the rhythm of the side that’s going in such great nick now.
“It started badly, it’s got into its rhythm now. You’re not going to change the side, so he’s going to have to force his way into the side.
“Whilst I think he’s an okay player, I don’t think he’s a world beater and I think where Aston Villa are at this moment in time there’s no case to get him in the side.
“It’s not their job to get him in their side so they can trigger a liability. It’s also not their job, which is why, Emery’s pushing back against the underlying assertion that might have been made by some smart**** suggesting that Villa are trying to avoid the obligations that they might have entered into willingly at the beginning of the season and now don’t feel so willingly about it.
“Emery strikes me as the sort of person that wants his best shoulders to the wheel and if Harvey Elliott was his best shoulder, it’d be to the wheel.
“He’s not as a football manager going to go, ‘Well, I don’t want to cost my club any money’.
“If he wanted him and was prepared to enter into a conversation where the player was part of a set-up if he played 10 games, I think that’s a fool’s errand because I don’t think you trigger a value of £35million at Aston Villa by playing ten games in the season..
“I don’t think it’s because he’s being treated unfairly, it’s because the team’s doing so well.”
Elliott needs to make 10 appearances for Villa for the deal to be made permanent.
When asked about the situation last Friday, Liverpool boss Arne Slot said: “No, I haven’t had contact with him a lot. I think only once or twice and that was before he played Feyenoord away and after he played Feyenoord away, but that had more to do with that he played against a former club of mine.
“So no, I haven’t been speaking to him. I am aware of his situation, of course. I knew how difficult it already was for him over here, so I think I know how he feels at this moment. But you should ask those questions at Villa and not over here when it’s about his playing time over there.”
