Aston Villa boss Unai Emery made a stark transfer admission about out-of-favour Liverpool loanee Harvey Elliott as the January transfer window looms. Elliott was sent out on loan to the Villans in the last window after the Reds bought Florian Wirtz, breaking the British transfer record. His journey, however, has not gone as planned as he has struggled for minutes at Villa Park.

• Elliott's struggles at Aston Villa

  Villa are facing a crucial call over Elliott's next steps after the Liverpool loanee slipped further down the pecking order in recent weeks. The 22-year-old has made just one Premier League start since arriving in the summer and has been left out of the club's last seven matchday squads in the Premier League. His lack of involvement has heightened speculation that the Reds will recall him in January, especially with a mandatory £35 million ($47m) purchase clause activating if he reaches 10 appearances.

  The structure of the loan had originally been viewed as a chance for Elliott to accelerate his development in a high-level environment, but the early months of the season have told a different story. The Villans' form and the emergence of other midfield options have severely limited the opportunities available to him. As a result, both clubs now find themselves needing clarity ahead of a decisive mid-season transfer window.

Advertisement

• AFP
  

  Emery makes Elliott transfer admission

  Just weeks before the January transfer window opens, Emery told reporters: "We are speaking with him and about his situation. He is not here with us. 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.

  "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 we have with him. Firstly, my decision and also the situation. He is on loan playing with us, but he is not definitely adding to us with a permanent contract."

• Will Elliott return to Liverpool?

  With the January transfer window fast approaching, Elliott's future at Villa Park now hinges on what happens over the next several weeks as the club navigate a congested fixture list in December. Increased rotation in domestic and European competitions could offer the midfielder a chance to re-enter Emery's plans and influence the club's decision, although the manager's words suggest his days are numbered.

  Should Elliott continue to miss out, Liverpool are expected to explore bringing him back early to avoid stagnation in his development. The Reds remain invested in his long-term trajectory, and the lack of minutes at Villa may prompt a reassessment of the loan strategy altogether. A recall would also reopen the possibility of integrating him into Arne Slot's plans as the Reds continue to toil, or arranging a new temporary move with guaranteed playing time.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• Getty Images Sport
  

  Liverpool want to solve Salah issue first

  Before thinking about bringing back Elliott from his loan spell, Liverpool are currently focused on resolving the Mohamed Salah issue after the Egyptian winger vented his frustrations against the club and the manager in front of the media after being left out of the starting line-up by Slot for the third consecutive Premier League game against Leeds..

  Salah has even hinted that he could leave the Merseyside club in the upcoming January transfer window and has already been linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League. In fact, the SPL chief executive Omar Mugharbel has confirmed that the Liverpool talisman is a transfer target amid uncertainty over his future at Anfield.

  Speaking to reporters, Mugharbel said: "Mohamed Salah is welcome in the Saudi League, but it is the clubs that are responsible for negotiating with players. For sure, Salah is one of them [a target]."

  After a morale-boosting win over Inter in the Champions League on Tuesday, Slot's men will be back in action with renewed energy on Saturday as they host Brighton in a key Premier League fixture at Anfield.

Birmingham City have now reportedly sent scouts to watch an impressive teenage talent as they look to battle Crystal Palace for his signature.

Birmingham looking to bounce back after "disappointing" Saints defeat

It’s been a solid return for Birmingham in the Championship so far this season. The Blues sit eighth, despite falling to a frustrating 3-1 defeat against Southampton, and could move into the play-off places with victory over Queens Park Rangers this weekend.

Manager Chris Davies will be desperate for a better performance than in midweek, having told reporters at full-time: “It’s a disappointing result for us. We lost the game in that first 20 minutes, we weren’t strong enough, we weren’t quick enough onto the ball, and paid the price with two soft goals from our point of view.

“They weren’t hard goals to score from their point of view and that gave us a real mountain to climb at a difficult away venue. After that I thought there was a lot of good, a lot of territory, we had our own chances and we managed to get back into it at 2-1.

“If we keep it there then it’s all on to finish the game and get something out of it but to concede the third goal on the break away puts us in another difficult position.

“From our point of view it was about having urgency and aggression to start the game, but unfortunately we didn’t have that. We had a few moments defensively where we weren’t strong enough, they got shots off far too easily. We have to learn from this one very quickly and move on.”

Davies’ disappointment highlights just how high the expectations are at St. Andrew’s and those expectations could be backed up by Birmingham’s ambition to sign talented teen Adam Brennan in 2026.

Birmingham sends scouts to watch Brennan

According to Football Insider, Birmingham are now battling Crystal Palace to sign Brennan from Republic of Ireland side UCD. The Blues’ scouts were spotted watching the 18-year-old in action and they could now make their move when 2026 arrives.

It’s not just Palace and Birmingham interested, however. Both Hull City and Wrexham are also interested in the teenager, who could yet be lured in by the red carpet in Wales.

There’s a big decision to make for the attacking midfielder and Birmingham should be hoping that their Premier League ambitions at least put them ahead of their Championship rivals.

Whilst Brennan is one for the future, beating Crystal Palace to his signature would certainly send an impressive statement from St. Andrew’s.

The series will be tagged onto the tour of South Africa although ZC had also held out hope for a Test match

Tristan Lavalette28-Nov-2025The long Test drought between Australia and Zimbabwe is set to continue, but the countries will contest a three-match ODI series in Zimbabwe next year ahead of the 2027 World Cup in southern Africa.Before their Test and ODI tour of South Africa, earmarked for September-October 2026, Australia will have a brief stopover in Zimbabwe for a trio of ODIs, a development first reported by and likely to be officially announced in the coming weeks.The series is to be played in Harare, and possibly Bulawayo, with the flagship 10,000-seat stadium at Victoria Falls unlikely to be ready by then.ESPNcricinfo has learnt that Zimbabwe Cricket had been pushing for a one-off Test match to be included in what would have been a showpiece of the tour. But it will not eventuate with Australia to undergo a heavy Test schedule, playing at least 19 Tests from mid-2026 to the Ashes tour of 2027. An ODI series also looms as important preparation for Australia with Zimbabwe to co-host the next 50-over World Cup along with South Africa and Namibia.Zimbabwe and Australia have only played three Tests against each other with the last two being in October 2003 in a short series best remembered for Matthew Hayden briefly setting a world record score of 380 in the first Test at the WACA.The only Test in Zimbabwe was played in 1999 when a Steve Waugh-led Australia won by 10 wickets in what proved to be wicketkeeper Ian Healy’s last Test match.The ODI series will end an eight-year absence for Australia in Zimbabwe. Australia were part of a T20 tri-series, also involving Pakistan, in 2018 while they last played the 50-over format there in 2014.While Test cricket between the nations remains on pause, Zimbabwe power brokers are confident that England will visit for a one-off Test match as an extension of their tour to South Africa in late 2026-early ’27. It is hoped the match will be played at Victoria Falls, named the Fale Mosi-oa-Tunya International Cricket Stadium.England and Zimbabwe in May ended a 22-year Test drought with a four-day match at Trent Bridge. The countries have played just seven Test matches against each other, with only two in Zimbabwe – a 0-0 drawn series in December 1996.ZC have been actively trying to encourage countries to stopover en route to neighbouring South Africa and long circled late 2026 as opportunities to negotiate rare fixtures with Australia and England.”We are a Test nation, so playing the top countries like Australia and England at home will go a long way to making this format popular in Zimbabwe,” ZC chair Tavengwa Mukuhlani told ESPNcricinfo.”Playing against the best teams will help our players develop their skills in Test cricket. Understandably Australia wants to prepare for the World Cup, but hopefully we can play them in Test cricket in the future.”As ESPNcricinfo reported earlier this month, the next World Test Championship (WTC) cycle is likely to feature all 12 Full Members in one division.It means teams will have more incentive to play Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Ireland, who aren’t part of the current nine-team WTC. If the 12-team, one division WTC eventuates as expected – a final decision is likely at the ICC meetings in March – it has been widely assumed that those teams will mostly host one-off matches. No extra funding is expected to be available for hosting Tests.But Zimbabwe plans to host longer series in the next WTC, doubling down on their commitment to Test cricket. “Some countries might just play a minimum number of Tests, but we are hoping to play more,” Mukuhlani said. “We will aim to stage two or more Test match series against the likes of Australia and England.”

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!