'Everybody loses' - Former Aston Villa and Liverpool chief fires warning over Harvey Elliott situation
Former Villa chief executive Christian Purslow has warned “everybody loses” if no change is made to Harvey Elliott’s loan agreement from Liverpool.
The midfielder can make just two more appearances for Villa this season without triggering an obligation to buy set between £30-35million.
Villa boss Unai Emery has already stated he does not want to sign Elliott permanently but no agreement over altering the terms of the loan has been reached.
Purslow, chief executive at Villa between 2018 and 2023, believes the deal can still be amended despite the closure of the transfer window and thinks it would be in the interest of all parties.
Speaking on the Football Boardroom podcast, he said: “If he sits not playing, purely for a contractual reason for the next five months, I think everybody loses.”
Elliott joined Villa on deadline day in September on a loan which included the obligation to buy once he made 10 appearances.
After making five appearances in his first month at the club he was frozen out by Emery, before returning for the last two matches to help Villa battle an injury crisis.
The club declined to pay a termination fee which would have sent Elliott back to Liverpool during the January window.
Liverpool, meanwhile, have shown little interest in renegotiating the loan but Purslow, who was managing director at Anfield between 2009 and 2010, does not believe it is in their interests to let the player’s value decrease.
He said: “As complexity has crept into the loan market, with obligations and conditional obligations, they can have unintended consequences.
“We are not talking about a derivative option in the stock market. We are talking about a human being, a footballer.
“So a clever, astute, financial agreement, actually in practice produces a dysfunctional outcome, where a coach can’t pick a footballer.”
Purslow continued: “In this case, in plain English, the deal which was done has a perverse incentive for Unai (Emery) not to pick the player.
“If he picks him two more times they have to write a cheque for £30-35million in the summer and more importantly take a player who Unai has said categorically he does not want in the building this season. That is utterly and completely dysfunctional.
“Nobody benefits. Common sense would suggest compromise is required.”
