Harvey Elliott has delivered a cheeky response following Aston Villa's Europa League final triumph, with the playmaker set to head back to Liverpool this summer. The England Under-21 star also joked about his limited playing time throughout his loan spell.
Villa's Europa League Glory
Villa secured a commanding 3-0 victory over Freiburg in Wednesday evening's Europa League final, marking the second-to-last match of Elliott's loan spell with Unai Emery's team. The Reds sent Elliott to Villa last summer as part of a deal that included a £35million obligation to buy, which would have been triggered after the 23-year-old reached 10 Premier League outings. Yet Elliott has featured in merely five top-flight matches this campaign and looks set to return to Anfield this summer, where his long-term prospects remain unclear.
Social Media Reaction
Having watched from the bench during the victory in Istanbul on Thursday, Elliott subsequently shared a message on social media directed at Villa supporters. 'Was written in the stars from the moment I signed! Up the f****** Villa,' Elliott posted to his 2.3million followers on Instagram. 'Played a huge part,' Elliott added, followed by a laughing face emoji and a winking face emoji. 'All jokes aside, Villa fans, thanks so much for everything! Enjoy yourselves.' The post received over 230,000 likes, including from Liverpool stars Hugo Ekitike, Curtis Jones, Rio Ngumoha, Andy Robertson, Trey Nyoni, as well as former Reds teammates Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Tyler Morton and Kostas Tsimikas.
Emery's Regrets
Villa boss Emery was quizzed about Elliott's future ahead of the 4-2 win over Liverpool last week, taking the opportunity to offer his regrets to the Reds loanee. 'It is something embarrassing for everyone involved,' Emery said. 'My apologies for Harvey Elliott is every day in my mind, but it is [about] responsibility; we have our responsibility, and Liverpool have their responsibility. It is something, as a human and as a person, how the season has gone has been difficult.' He added: 'To now explain about the reason for this decision is very difficult. Or it is easy, but it is not the moment.'
Elliott made four appearances for Villa in the Europa League this season as they went on to lift the trophy, though he was absent from the quarter-final stage onwards.
