Manajer Aston Villa Unai Emery menyampaikan permintaan maaf secara terbuka terkait kegagalan masa peminjaman gelandang Liverpool, Harvey Elliott, yang minim mendapatkan kesempatan bermain akibat kendala klausul kontrak sepanjang musim kompetisi ini.
Pemain berusia 23 tahun tersebut tercatat hanya tampil sebanyak empat kali di Liga Inggris dan sembilan kali di seluruh kompetisi dengan total 277 atau 284 menit bermain sejak bergabung pada hari terakhir bursa transfer September lalu. Manajemen Aston Villa sengaja membatasi penampilan mantan pemain Fulham tersebut untuk menghindari klausul kewajiban membeli permanen senilai 35 juta poundsterling yang otomatis aktif jika ia mencatatkan 10 penampilan di liga domestik, sehingga Elliott dipastikan tidak memenuhi syarat untuk bermain melawan klub induknya pada Jumat malam.
"To now explain about the reason for this decision is very difficult, or it is easy, but it is not the moment. Of course, it is something embarrassing for everyone involved." kata Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Manajemen Aston Villa sempat berupaya menghapus klausul kewajiban membeli tersebut sejak tiga bulan lalu sebelum bursa transfer musim dingin ditutup pada hari Senin, namun proses negosiasi dengan Liverpool tidak membuahkan hasil karena kedua klub tengah bersaing ketat dalam perebutan tiket kualifikasi Liga Champions.
"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." kata Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Emery juga menegaskan bahwa keputusan untuk memarkir Elliott bukan sekadar masalah performa di lapangan, melainkan murni karena kepentingan bisnis klub yang harus mematuhi kesepakatan kontrak demi menghindari masalah terkait Peraturan Laba dan Keberlanjutan (PSR) Liga Premier.
"It is something, as a human and as a person, how the season has gone has been difficult." kata Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Sebelumnya pada bulan Februari, Emery juga sempat membeberkan isi pembicaraannya dengan Elliott mengenai keputusan seputar pembatasan penampilannya demi menghindari pembayaran biaya transfer permanen.
"I spoke with him. 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." kata Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Emery mengklaim telah mengomunikasikan masalah klausul pertandingan ini kepada pihak Liverpool sejak beberapa bulan lalu sebelum bursa transfer musim dingin ditutup, meskipun penampilan Elliott sempat ditarik keluar pada babak pertama dalam kemenangan 3-1 atas Fulham di penampilan liga ketiganya dan hanya sekali menjadi starter setelah itu melawan Salzburg pada 29 Januari.
"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.'" kata Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Menurut Emery, kualitas Elliott di dalam skuad sangat dibutuhkan, namun keputusan olahraga kini berbenturan dengan kebijakan finansial klub.
"But now it's a sport decision and a business decision. My sport decision is still there, 'You are deserving to play, we need your qualities in the field, you are going to play.' But in case the clauses are still there, now it is Liverpool - they have the key." kata Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Emery memuji profesionalisme Elliott yang tetap bersabar serta menunjukkan perilaku sangat baik dalam sesi latihan bersama skuad utama meskipun situasi ini merugikan perkembangan karier sepak bolanya.
"And I told him, it will be fair for him in case Liverpool take off this clause. We are speaking about it (taking off the clause), but not (just) now. We started speaking about it three months ago. Of course, the transfer window finished on Monday." kata Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Pihak Aston Villa tetap menghormati kontrak yang ada, walaupun menyadari dampak buruk yang harus diterima oleh sang pemain akibat sekadar mematuhi klausul transfer.
"It will be fair for him, because he's a calm guy, good guy, and he's a fantastic professional. And then his qualities are there." kata Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Emery berharap Liverpool bersedia mengubah keputusan mereka demi kebaikan karier sang pemain di masa depan.
"Of course, he must play, and he's really being patient. And I know we are damaging him, because we got a deal with Liverpool in the summer and the deal is there, and we are respecting the decision and taking the sporting decision responsibly from my side." kata Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Kini Elliott dipastikan akan kembali ke Liverpool setelah masa peminjaman yang gagal tersebut berakhir, meskipun masa depannya di Anfield masih belum menemui kejelasan karena kedatangan Florian Wirtz pada musim panas.
"It can change for him, in case Liverpool take off this clause. If they don't want to, okay, but the player is getting damaged." kata Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
"My apologies for Harvey Elliott are, every day, in my mind. We have our responsibility and Liverpool have their responsibility," kata Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
"How the season has gone has been difficult," cetus Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
"Something embarrassing for everyone involved," kata Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
"The problem we have with Harvey is that this year he is on loan, and in case he plays matches we must buy him," ujar Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
"We decided two months ago that we are not convinced to sign him, spending the money we would need to sign him," kata Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
"This is the only issue. He is training every day, always every day with very good behaviour and to help us in training sessions," ujar Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
"This is not something good for him and good for us, but this is football and sometimes we must take some decisions which are not good for everyone," kata Unai Emery, Manajer Aston Villa.
Manajer Liverpool Arne Slot memberikan pernyataan resmi pada Kamis (14/5/2026) yang menegaskan kembalinya Elliott ke skuad The Reds untuk sesi pramusim, meskipun sebelumnya sang pemain sempat tampil gemilang di pramusim 2024 dan mencetak gol di babak 16 besar Liga Champions melawan Paris Saint-Germain di Parc des Princes.
"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," ujar Arne Slot, Manajer Liverpool.
Slot mengaku tidak mengerti alasan teknis di balik keputusan Villa membiarkan talenta berbakat seperti Elliott di bangku cadangan.
"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," kata Arne Slot, Manajer Liverpool.
Kecewaan Slot berlanjut karena misi awal peminjaman adalah untuk menambah jam terbang kompetitif bagi Elliott setelah sebelumnya sempat mendapat penyesalan dari Jurgen Klopp karena kurang mendapat menit bermain di akhir musim 2024.
"He went over there to get more playing time, but unfortunately that didn’t happen," ujar Arne Slot, Manajer Liverpool.
Status Elliott sebagai Pemain Terbaik Turnamen saat membawa Inggris memenangkan Kejuaraan Eropa U-21 2025 di Slovakia sempat menarik minat RB Leipzig, namun klub Jerman tersebut tidak bersedia memenuhi harga yang diminta Liverpool.
"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," kata Arne Slot, Manajer Liverpool.
Meskipun mengakui Villa memiliki kedalaman skuat yang mumpuni, Slot tetap tidak melihat alasan kuat untuk meminggirkan Elliott dalam durasi yang lama.
"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," ujar Arne Slot, Manajer Liverpool.
Kehilangan kesempatan bermain selama dua tahun berturut-turut dinilai Slot sebagai kerugian besar bagi perkembangan pemain seusia Elliott.
"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," kata Arne Slot, Manajer Liverpool.
Slot memastikan bahwa Elliott tetap masuk dalam proyeksi tim utama Liverpool untuk kampanye musim depan berdasarkan kontrak jangka panjangnya.
"He’s contracted to us so he will be with us in the start of the season," tegas Arne Slot, Manajer Liverpool.
Di sisi lain, mantan kepala pemandu bakat Manchester United Mick Brown menilai bahwa Leeds United di bawah asuhan Daniel Farke bisa menjadi pelabuhan baru yang sangat cocok bagi Elliott untuk membangkitkan kariernya di bursa transfer mendatang.
"Leeds want to be ambitious in the transfer market. Harvey Elliott is somebody who could really improve their team. He’s a quality player and would bring something different that they haven’t already got." kata Mick Brown, Mantan Kepala Pemandu Bakat Manchester United.
Brown mempertanyakan posisi terbaik Elliott di lapangan, namun ia menegaskan bahwa sang pemain wajib mendapatkan jaminan bermain reguler di klub barunya nanti agar tidak mengulangi kesalahan peminjaman seperti di Aston Villa.
"I would have to ask questions about what his best position is – will they play him in the middle or could he play out wide? That’s the issue he has." kata Mick Brown, Mantan Kepala Pemandu Bakat Manchester United.
Berdasarkan laporan Football Insider, Leeds United harus bergerak aktif di bursa transfer demi memberikan ruang bagi pemain berkualitas seperti Elliott.
"After everything that’s happened at Aston Villa, he’s got to get back to playing regularly. Wherever he goes next season, because he’s not going to be part of Liverpool’s plans, he needs assurances that he is going to play every week." kata Mick Brown, Mantan Kepala Pemandu Bakat Manchester United.
