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By SIMON JONES and TOM COLLOMOSSE, FOOTBALL REPORTER Published: 20: 16 AEDT, 2 January 2026 | Updated: 01: 49 AEDT, 3 January 2026 165 View comments MLS side Charlotte FC are willing to offer Liverpool midfielder Harvey Elliott an escape route from his season limbo. The 22-year-old is on loan at Aston Villa but has been frozen out by Unai Emery and looks unlikely to figure. Villa could curtail his loan, but he is not part of Liverpool manager Arne Slot's plans either, hence no recall clause being placed in his deal. Having played twice for Liverpool, and made five appearances for Villa, Elliott cannot appear for another team this season in European leagues. However, he would be allowed to play in the MLS which has alerted clubs there. Daily Mail Sport understands it is Charlotte who have secured the discovery rights for the England U21 international and they are willing to offer Elliott a platform so that he can get back to playing rather than potentially spending the rest of the season sat in the stands. Coach Dean Smith, the former Aston Villa manager, and Charlotte general manager Zoran Krneta have strong connections in the UK and that is believed to have helped put them in pole position. They understand Elliott would prefer to play in the Premier League but they hope, with the World Cup coming to USA this summer, that he would be attracted to the chance to play there every week and recognise that he would still be in the spotlight as his arrival would generate plenty of excitement. MLS side Charlotte FC are willing to offer Harvey Elliott an escape route from his season limbo Much depends now on talks with Aston Villa and Liverpool to see if there is a chance of a solution over his playing time. If not, Elliott may yet view Charlotte's offer as his best short-term fix before taking stock in the summer. Aston Villa boss Unai Emery, meanwhile, revealed for the first time that Elliott has been frozen out at Villa because they have no interest in signing him permanently. The midfielder joined on loan from Liverpool last summer with an obligation to buy for about £35million if he made a certain number of appearances, believed to be 10. Your browser does not support iframes. But he has not played since October 2, and on Friday Emery admitted that he reached the conclusion that the player was not suitable for his demands as far back as November. Emery said: ‘The problem we have is this year he is on loan and if he plays matches we must buy him. We decided two months ago we are not convinced to sign him spending the money we need to. This is the issue. ‘I am respecting him all I can because he is a very good professional and a good guy but the situation he has is something I must take a decision about, trying to damage the player as little as possible. ‘Of course it’s not something good for him or us but it’s football and sometimes we must take some decisions that are not good for anyone. ’
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