Aston Villa signed Harvey Elliott on summer transfer deadline day from Liverpool.

Liverpool have been told they have allowed a player who can become ‘as good as Martin Odegaard’ to leave the club.

The Reds made the decision on transfer deadline day to allow Harvey Elliott to leave Anfield. The attacking midfielder was highly regarded by Liverpool and supporters. During his time at Anfield, he won the Premier League, the FA Cup and two Carabao Cups.

However, en route to claiming the English championship last season, Elliott did not make a single start. Dominik Szoboszlai was preferred in the No.10 role while Mo Salah was undisputed first choice on the right wing.

In addition, the arrival of Florian Wirtz for £100 million from Bayer Leverkusen pushed Elliott further down the pecking order. The 22-year-old spoke openly about wanting regular football and Liverpool granted him his wish.

Elliott completed a move to Aston Villa on loan with an obligation to buy for £35 million. He will be hoping to display his quality week in, week out. And former Bayern Munich and Manchester United midfielder Owen Hargreaves reckons that Elliott has the ability to be on the same level as Arsenal captain Odegaard.

What’s been said

Speaking on TNT Sports before Villa’s 1-0 win over Bologna in the Europa League, Hargreaves said: “Marcus Rashford and Assensio were brilliant for this Aston Villa team. I think Harvey Elliott can eventually be a player who can go on to be as good as Martin Odegaard. Technically, he is fantastic. He hasn't had the opportunity at Liverpool because they have got so many good players but centrally, he is a fabulous player.

“Unai [Emery] is the master of getting the best out of players who have struggled elsewhere. That was a masterstroke late in the window to get two technical players [Elliott and Jadon Sancho] who can really help out.”

Slot explains Elliott departure

Speaking on Liverpool’s decision to allow Elliott to depart, head coach Arne Slot said: "Harvey is in a very good place, going to a very nice club with Aston Villa. I think it's in the interest of everyone when he didn't get the playing time he probably deserved for the quality player he is.

"He conducted himself always so well. It wasn't only when he said that this was his club that he wanted to say this to the fans. He acted [the same] inside [the club] - with him not playing so much - he was always doing what was in the best interest in the club. He deserves a big compliment for that.

"I know everyone always talks about Mo [Salah], Virgil [van Dijk] and the others if we win the league. But players like him were definitely also the reason why we could win it, because he always was positive if he had to play five or 10 minutes, he helped the team. That is partly the success of the team is [that] the ones that don't play that much have the right mindset. I think he is completely ready now to show the quality he has at Aston Villa."