Harvey Elliott‘s slow start to life at Aston Villa continues, with Liverpool’s on-loan midfielder left out of the squad to face Man City.
The 22-year-old traded Anfield for Villa Park in the summer to pick up more regular playing time, having not been given assurances over his squad status by Arne Slot.
Elliott will have hoped to be a firm fixture in Villa’s team this season, prior to potentially joining permanently next summer once he makes 10 appearances, but things haven’t panned out that way.
The boyhood Liverpool fan has been limited to just 97 minutes of Premier League action in 2025/26 to date, and that didn’t change on Sunday.
Elliott wasn’t selected at all in the matchday squad to face City, with Emi Buendia and Morgan Rogers preferred in the XI, with Jadon Sancho and Evann Guessand favoured on the bench.
Unai Emery’s comments in the lead-up to the match went some way in explaining his decision.
“I am being very, very demanding myself to choose in each match the player to start and the players on the bench and the subs players, and firstly is always trying to get the best performance collectively, through individual players,” Emery said.
“Harvey is a 10 in our structure, in our shape, and he plays some matches, and there is still adaptation to add himself individually in our structure.
“Of course, he is training well, and his commitment is being very well as well, but his performance was not enough (up to this point).
“At the same time, we have other players who can play as 10, and they are performing well, and I have different players.
“This is the main reason he is not playing the last match, but he has to continue working like he is doing in the training session, and of course getting his confidence in the performance.”
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It is a setback for the Englishman, whose career is at a key point, as it is widely reported that Villa’s £35 million obligation to buy is tied to him making 10 or more appearances this season.
The 22-year-old has had just five outings for Villa so far and has been left unused on the bench on four different occasions, with his omission against City the first time he has been left out entirely.
Hopefully, he is able to show Emery that he can be an influential figure as the season progresses, but to be left out is telling, especially for a team who have struggled this season.
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