Aston Villa manager Unai Emery says the club were "not convinced" two months ago to sign Harvey Elliott permanently. The forward arrived from Liverpool in September on a season-long loan, with an obligation to buy for £35m based on him playing 10 Premier League games for the Midlands club.

BBC Sport understands that Major League Soccer side Charlotte FC, who are coached by former Villa manager Dean Smith, are interested in Elliott, but the 22-year-old is not keen on moving to America.

Elliott has only featured five times under Emery, with his last appearance coming as a late substitute against Feyenoord in the Europa League on 2 October.

"The problem we have with Harvey is that this year he is on loan, and in case he plays matches we must buy him," said Emery. "We decided two months ago that we are not convinced to sign him, spending the money we would need to sign him. This is the only issue. He is training every day, always every day with very good behaviour and to help us in training sessions. This is not something good for him and good for us, but this is football and sometimes we must take some decisions which are not good for everyone."

Elliott, who starred for England Under-21s as they won the European Championship last summer, made just two Premier League starts when Liverpool won the title last season. He has started just once in the league for Villa, and scored his only goal at Brentford in a Carabao Cup tie in September.

Elliott would not be able to play for another European club this term, having already represented Liverpool and Villa in the 2025-26 campaign. Given Liverpool's injury problems, it is not impossible that Elliott ends the window back in Arne Slot's squad, but the stance on Merseyside is that this is very much Aston Villa's problem to solve.

There is no recall clause in the current deal and Liverpool are only expected to engage if an approach was initiated by Villa for Elliott to return to Anfield. If that were the case, Villa would be expected to pay a fee to terminate the loan and potentially contribute to Elliott's wages.

When Elliott made the loan move in the summer, Liverpool budgeted accordingly, with the understanding that the move would become permanent in the summer of 2026. Liverpool boss Slot was asked recently if the club had explored the possibility of bringing Elliott back, and he said: "No, Harvey is an Aston Villa player and he's supposed to be going there for a season."

Despite not playing since October, Elliott has conducted himself well at Villa, but Emery has made it clear that he sees no future for the Englishman in Birmingham. A solution is expected before the end of the window.