UNAI EMERY slammed the door shut on Harvey Elliott’s career at Aston Villa.
The on-loan Liverpool star was left in Birmingham as Villa flew out for their latest Europa League test in Basel.
Elliott has been kicking-his-heels on the sidelines as the Birmingham club have super-charged their Premier League campaign.
The former England Under-21 international needs to make ten appearances for Emery to trigger an automatic £35m transfer.
So far, he has made five – the last came in the victory over Feyenoord over two months ago.
Emery said he was “definitely” not going to get a permanent contract – seemingly leaving him free to return to Anfield.
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The Villa boss said: “He is not here with us.
“We are speaking with him and about his situation.
“Hopefully, we can get the best for him and the best for us.
“I respect him as a player and as a person. He is training well, but we have one circumstance with him.
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“Hopefully we can get a solution for him to try to play consistently and try to continue in his career with us or not.
“I have spoken with him two or three times about the situation.
“He is on loan player with us – but he is definitely not adding to us with a permanent contract.”
The problem with Elliott has been exacerbated by the fact he has already played for both Liverpool and Villa this season.
That means he will have to return to Merseyside and not go out on loan again as he cannot play for three teams in any one season.
He turned out for Arne Slot’s side in the Community Shield and in the Premier League during a 3-2 victory at Newcastle.
Now he will have no choice but to return in the New Year after Emery ruled out the possibility of him remaining at Villa Park.
Villa are riding the crest of a wave after defeating Arsenal 2-1 at Villa Park last week.
It is a huge turnaround from their form in the early part of the campaign.
After failing to win any of their opening six matches this season, they have chalked up 13 victories in their last 15 outings.
It is form that has taken to within three points of the Premier League summit.
After winning four out of their five games in the Europa League, they are joint top of the table along with Lyon and Midtjylland.
Emery said: “How we were two months ago and how we are now is different.
“We must share our emotions with our supporters. We did that last Saturday.
“But we must be responsible on the field. The players weren’t performing well in August and September. They weren’t feeling that responsibility.
“But they are ambitious. They are showing maturity. We’re setting new standards. Even when they are resting at home they must think they are going to play again in a few days.
“The players understand it. Now their qualities are coming out.”
One player who is at the top of his game is midfielder Youri Tielemans.
The Belgian international was injured at the start of the campaign and returned to action last month.
Asked if he was in the best form of his career, the midfielder said: “Maybe I think I’ve grown as a player since joining the club. I feel like I’m a better player and I hope that carries on.
“I had a good season last season. I feel like I’m back to my best after my injury and physically I’m there, too.”
For their part, Basel were clearly buying into the narrative that Villa were favourites.
The Swiss side has won its last seven games in Europe at St Jakob’s Park but coach Ludovic Magnin was under no illusions as to the size of the task awaiting his side.
He said: “We understand the challenge. It will be a brutal one.
“We know we are facing a top European team who are on a roll Everything will have to come together for us to win. We know we have to be prepared to struggle and we won’t dominate.”
Meanwhile, Villa are on course to complete their first signing of the January transfer window with reports in Brazil suggesting that emerging Gremio striker Alysson is set to sign.
The 19-year-old enjoyed a breakthrough campaign with the South Americans, playing in all but seven of the Porto Alegre-based club’s league games.
The forward is believed to be the subject of a £10m fee and is thought to be one for the future but Emery is likely to fast-track the youngster as he did with Colombia international Jhon Duran before offloading the forward to Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr for a whopping £64m.
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