'Harvey Elliott situation has been embarrassing for everyone involved'

Harvey Elliott is facing another summer of indecision with neither Liverpool nor Aston Villa interested in the midfielder, after Unai Emery confessed on Thursday that freezing out Harvey Elliott has been 'embarrassing for everyone' this season.

Elliott will be preparing for another evening on the bench against Liverpool on Friday night, with the Reds academy graduate, making just nine appearances for a miserly total of 277 minutes played since his summer loan move.

The conditions of Villa and Liverpool's deal for Elliott's sale is such that he is unable to take part in their Friday night clash, but with Champions League football on the line, it was unlikely that Elliott was ever part of his manager's plans.

For his part, Emery appeared to express remorse during his pre-match press conference ahead of the Premier League meeting, stressing that he has 'apologies' for his player in his thoughts 'every day'.

'To now explain about the reason for this decision is very difficult, or it is easy, but it is not the moment,' Emery said. 'Of course, it is something embarrassing for everyone involved.

'My apologies for Harvey Elliott is every day in my mind. But it is (about) responsibility. We have our responsibility and Liverpool have their responsibility.

'It is something, as a human and as a person, how the season has gone has been difficult.'

Elliott is set to return to Liverpool at the end of the season having failed to make the requisite 10 Premier League appearances to meet Villa's obligation to buy the player for £35million.

But after finding himself out of favour under Arne Slot, the 23-year-old could yet leave the club, with the Athletic reporting that RB Leipzig are thought to be among his admirers - despite interest making their loan move for Brighton star Brajan Gruda in the same position permanent.

The outlet also revealed Elliott's upset at being left out at his loan club, with the star believed to have thought there was a chance for a mid-season return to Anfield amid a lack of playing time at Villa.

The Reds academy graduate has just one year left on his contract with his boyhood club, which was signed following a promising season on loan at Blackburn Rovers in 2021.

Despite being stranded, Elliott has reportedly maintained a polite and positive attitude at the training ground, and kept up his keen work ethic despite little hope of minutes.

In February, Emery shared that he was opting not to play Elliott in a bid not to trigger the obligation to buy, after Villa attempted to renegotiate the terms of the loan during the January transfer window.

'I spoke with him,' the Villa manager said at the time. 'We have been fair because there are two ways: one way is a sport, the second is business.

'We'll be fair in case, because we are trying it, and I told him, we are opening the door to play with us, because he can help us.

'But it's not only in my way and on my side. The other side is Liverpool. If they take off the clauses to play matches and for us to buy him, (I said to him) "You are going to play here with us, it's a sport decision."'

Elliott has not featured for Emery since March, when he managed six minutes in the Europa League against Lille.

For his old manager, it is a 'pity' that Elliott has endured such a long spell out in the cold, with Slot saying on Thursday that he 'didn't know why' he didn't get the minutes he had moved to Birmingham to play.

'For him, for everyone, it didn’t work out the way as he wanted it, we wanted it, or Villa wanted it, because you usually sign a player to use him a lot,' the Liverpool manager said. 'It’s not for me to answer why that is.

'Of course it’s never nice for a player not to make so many minutes especially after the season he had with us.

'He went over there to get more playing time so it’s unfortunate. For such a talented player that did so well in the U21 Euros, you want a player like that to get more playing time.

'He went to a very good team who have a lot of good players. I don’t know why he hasn’t made the minutes he was expecting. It’s not for me to answer but it’s a pity if a player hardly plays for two years, let alone a player who shows he’s such a good player.'