Aston Villa have bought Harvey Elliott into the fold for Sunday's game at Newcastle despite him being on the outer for almost the entirety of his loan spell.

The Liverpool star has endured a miserable time at Villa Park since joining them in the summer but has been included by Unai Emery for the clash at Newcastle. The Spanish boss has shown little desire to pick Elliott, whose future is in limbo.

But injuries to Boubacar Kamara and John McGinn have resulted in the England U21 star travelling for the game at St James’ Park. The playmaker has been a peripheral figure with Villa likely conscious that they could trigger a £35million agreement to buy the player.

If he reached 10 Premier League appearances they would have to fork out the fee. The Telegraph reports that five of those appearances have to be in the second half of this season and Emery had claimed he expected the player to head back to Anfield.

He said: “The problem we have with Harvey is that this year he is on loan, and in case he plays matches we must buy him. We decided two months ago that we are not convinced to sign him, spending the money we would need to sign him.

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“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.”

Villa's fitness issues could open the door for a rare outing for Elliott, who was named the best player at the U21 Euros in the summer, yet hasn't kicked in. Despite interest from the likes of RB Leipzig he headed to the Midlands but has seen his progress stall despite Villa's impressive season.

As Elliott has represented Liverpool and Villa in competitive games this season he is unable to join a third European club, either on loan or on a long-term deal in January.

The ex-Fulham star was very much a squad player at Liverpool with Arne Slot largely using him off the bench. As a result he left Merseyside, but has endured similar struggles. Villa will hope to remain in touch in the title race with a win drawing them back level on points with Manchester City in second - and leaving them just four behind Arsenal.

That is despite Emery giving a very pessimistic take after last week's loss to Everton. He claimed that five teams had more potential than Villa.

Emery said: "We are not contender to be in the top five. We are still not being contenders. There are other teams with more potential than us."

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