Unai Emery has openly admitted that Harvey Elliott's minimal playing time at Aston Villa this season has been "embarrassing" for everyone involved. The young midfielder, who joined Villa on a season-long loan from Liverpool, has made just four Premier League appearances—far fewer than anticipated when the deal was struck last summer.

Speaking ahead of Friday's clash with Liverpool, Emery didn't hold back. "It is something embarrassing for everyone involved in it. My apologies for Harvey Elliott are every day in my mind," he said. "But it is the responsibility. We have our responsibility and Liverpool have their responsibility. As a human and as a person, how the season has gone has been difficult."

The loan agreement included an obligation for Villa to buy the 23-year-old if he made 10 league appearances—a threshold that now looks all but impossible to reach. For a player who shone at the U21 European Championship last summer, this season has been a stark contrast to the promise he showed.

Liverpool manager Arne Slot also expressed his disappointment, noting the frustration of seeing a talented youngster struggle for minutes. "It's never nice for a player not to make so many minutes, especially after the season he had with us, where he made more minutes than these 280," Slot said. "He went over there to get more playing time, but unfortunately that didn't happen. For such a talented player, you want a player like that to get more and more playing time."

Slot pointed out that Villa are a very strong team with plenty of quality players, which may have contributed to Elliott's lack of opportunities. "I don't know why he hasn't made the minutes he was expecting. That's not for me to answer," he added. "But it's always a pity if a player hardly plays for two years, let alone a player of that age that has shown during the Euros that he's such a good player."

For Elliott, the hope now will be to find a path back to regular football—whether at Liverpool or elsewhere—and rediscover the form that made him one of England's most exciting young prospects.