NewsArne Slot on Harvey Elliott return to Liverpool

The midfielder has been on loan with Aston Villa from the Reds for the majority of the current campaign.

However, Elliott has been limited to only 284 minutes on the pitch across the term.

Slot was asked about Elliott’s situation at his press conference today to preview Liverpool’s trip to Villa on Friday night.

He said: “I think for him, for everyone, it didn’t work out as he wanted it, as we wanted it and probably also how Villa wanted it, because you usually sign a player or bring him in on loan to use him.

“That hasn’t happened a lot. That’s not for me to answer why that is. But of course, it’s never nice for a player not to make so many minutes, especially after the season he had with us, where he made – I assume – even more minutes with us than these 280.

“He went over there to get more playing time, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.

“And for such a talented player that did so well in the U21 Euros [last summer], you want a player like that to get more and more playing time.

“He went to a very, very good team as well, where they also have a lot of good players. I don’t know why he hasn’t made the minutes he was expecting. That’s not for me to answer.

“But it’s always a pity if a player hardly plays for two years, let alone a player of that age that has shown during the [U21] Euros that he’s such a good player.”

Slot added: “He’s contracted to us so he will be with us in the start of the season.”