This week’s Blood Red column assesses a potential second chance at Liverpool for Harvey Elliott under Andoni Iraola
For the incoming Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola, every player is ‘like a new signing’ to him.
The new Reds boss, who signed a two-year contract, explained last week why everyone in the squad he inherits has a clean slate at Anfield, should they want one.
“For me, it’s much easier to continue in the Premier League in terms of knowing the squad,” Iraola told the club’s official website.
“We’ve analysed Liverpool a lot – possible weaknesses, the strengths. I think we have a very good squad. I think there is still work to do, like normally in every club in this moment of the season.
“But right now, for me the thing is to value especially the players that we have right now in the squad.
“For me, and I will tell them, [they] are all new signings. For me, you are all new signings and I think we have a lot of quality in our squad, and [I’m] really looking forward to working with them.”
That, for many, may be music to the ears and in the case of Harvey Elliott, there can be few better positioned to benefit from a change in the dugout more than the former England Under-21 star.
Having been pushed to the side at Aston Villa for a number of complicated factors that were not of his making, the chance to renergise his career back at Liverpool must whet the appetite.
Elliott was just weeks into a season-long loan spell at Aston Villa when it started to become clear that Villa Park was not what was sold on the brochure.
Sporting director Monchi, who had been so influential in driving the transfer deadline day deal on September 1, left the club before the month was out and Unai Emery’s preferred a number of different players for his creative midfield role, most notably England star Morgan Rogers.
It’s tough to say that was a mistake on the part of Emery after Villa finished the campaign as Europa League winners and inside the Premier League’s top four, but Elliott, regrettably, was collateral damage.
“It’s embarrassing for everyone involved,” remarked Emery last month. Mercifully, it is at least all over with now, even if Elliott might feel a year of what is a short career has been misspent.
With Villa careful of making a £35m transfer they didn’t feel they needed amid concerns over PSR, it was easy to understand their position as they enjoyed an outstanding campaign.
But Elliott’s lack of action was not down to an inability to perform and there remains a classy midfielder with untapped potential waiting to be used under the right manager in a system that suits.
Few extolled the virtues of Elliott quite like Jurgen Klopp, who picked the boyhood Reds fans as many as 53 times across all competitions in his final season.
But it was a different story under Arne Slot, who handed the now 23-year-old just two league starts, both of which came after the title had been wrapped up in May 2025.
And while the expectation had been that Elliott would find a buyer elsewhere after his Villa nightmare, the arrival of Iraola may yet lead to a change in the thinking across all areas.
Does Elliott now view this summer as a major opportunity to make an impression? He will be afforded every chance this pre-season period as Iraola picks team without his World Cup contingent in the United States.
Elliott may be one of the biggest beneficiaries of the decision to replace Slot with Iraola.
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