"England's rising prospect" Harvey Elliott (23) is said to plan to refuse a transfer to Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States.
European football transfer market expert Fabrizio Romano said on his social media on the 3rd (Korea time), "Elliott is not considering a move to MLS at this stage of his career. Charlotte FC will wait and offer him a loan move, but Elliott is not interested (in a move to Charlotte) at this time," he said.
The news came as soon as the possibility of Elliott moving to Charlotte was raised. Earlier, The Athletic reported, "MLS club Charlotte are showing interest in signing Elliott. Villa are pushing to terminate the loan agreement with Liverpool. But Elliott himself has not yet decided his future."
The outlet explained, "Elliott's standing has narrowed at Unai Emery's Villa. He has already played for Liverpool and Villa in the 2025-2026 season, so he cannot play for other clubs operating under the same registration rules. Therefore MLS has emerged as a likely option." Even so, Elliott appears reluctant to move to the U.S.
Born in 2003 and from England, Elliott is a versatile midfielder. He joined Liverpool in the 2019-2020 season and drew attention by performing well despite his young age. With an excellent left-footed kick, playmaking ability and individual technique, he was expected to develop into a top-tier Premier League midfielder.
However, he found it difficult to get many opportunities at Liverpool. So Elliott went on loan to Villa ahead of this season to secure playing time.
Villa included a clause in the loan contract that if he appears in 10 matches they would make the transfer permanent in the summer of 2026. According to The Athletic, the amount for this clause is around 30 million pounds (about 30 million pounds) to 35 million pounds (about 35 million pounds).
But contrary to expectations, Elliott hardly played at Villa. He made just five appearances during the first half of the season, only two of them starts. With Youri Tielemans, John McGinn, Jadon Sancho, Morgan Rogers and Emiliano Buendía holding places in the Villa squad, there was no room for Elliott to break in.
Manager Emery publicly acknowledged he did not intend to sign Elliott permanently. He said, "Elliott is an excellent professional and polite. But the situation now is unavoidable," and added, "The problem with Elliott is that if he plays this season we have to sign him permanently. We already decided two months ago that we could not be sure it was worth paying the required transfer fee to sign him. That's the problem."
In the end Villa are pushing to terminate Elliott's loan early in the January transfer window. The problem is Liverpool also have no intention of using him this season. When asked whether he had explored the possibility of Elliott returning, Liverpool manager Arne Slot drew a line, saying, "No. Elliott is a Villa player, and he is supposed to be there for the season. It's best to direct questions about him to Villa officials."
Elliott faces the bench whether he stays at Villa or returns to Liverpool. Taking advantage of that, Charlotte approached him. The plan is to use Elliott on loan until next June when he will be eligible to play for other European teams. In fact, Charlotte signed Wilfried Zaha last January, who had been in a similar situation while playing for Galatasaray and Lyon.
But Romano says Elliott has no intention of moving to the U.S., which he views as a lower level than Europe. It is an obvious headache for Liverpool as well.
Cut Offside noted, "It's understandable that 22-year-old Elliott feels moving to the U.S. now would be a step down. But finding a club where he can play in the second half of the season would also be a tricky situation. For Liverpool, it would have been advantageous to find another team to take him on loan." Elliott's future is sinking into a maze.
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