By now, much has been said about his situation at Villa last season which Unai Emery described as “embarrassing” for all involved.
Elliott played only nine games and a total of 277 minutes after Villa decided early on in the campaign that they did not want to trigger an obligation to sign him from Liverpool for £35m if he made 10 appearances.
Those at Villa stressed Elliott’s professionalism and his positivity throughout and to his credit, the attacking midfielder returned early to Liverpool for the start of pre-season after a personally-challenging year.
Iraola himself was impressed by his attitude, saying as much in his introductory press conference.
“I’ve seen him with this eagerness to show himself. He will have a chance during the pre-season. He came one week earlier and I hope we can see him in a good place,” said Iraola.
“Last season had to have been very difficult for him as it was a strange situation that meant they [Aston Villa] couldn’t let him play.”
In effect, the move to Villa wasted a season of Elliott’s career even if he was adamant that it was a “learning curve” in a year where Villa won the Europa League.
“I don’t wish it upon any other player, because it’s not nice at all,” Elliott said.
When he left Liverpool last summer, the primary factor was more game-time after making just one Premier League start during Liverpool’s title-winning campaign under Arne Slot in 2024-25.
So with a week to go of the transfer window and with further attacking signings expected at Anfield, perhaps the writing is on the wall.
A move lower down the Premier League or somewhere in Europe may be an option.
After all, this is a player who scored the winner for Liverpool at PSG in a year where the Ligue 1 club won the Champions League.
He is neat on the ball and unafraid to take risks – a return of 15 goals and 21 assists for Liverpool, across all competitions, showcases what he can do.
Either way, it is imperative for all involved that Elliott finds somewhere to play football regularly this season because it seems unlikely at Liverpool and at 23, he cannot afford to have a season like last.