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Unai Emery insists Harvey Elliott's circumstances remain unchanged despite his return to the matchday squad. The 22-year-old hasn't featured for Aston Villa since the 2-0 victory over Feyenoord in October and has made just three Premier League appearances this season.

Should he reach 10 appearances for Villa during the campaign, the club will be required to pay £35million to secure his permanent transfer from Liverpool. Villa decided months ago that they would not exercise the option to sign Elliott, but following his return to the squad against Newcastle, there was speculation that the club might have negotiated to remove the appearance-based clause in the loan deal.

But Emery has dismissed that theory, though confirmed that Elliott will again be included in the squad against RB Salzburg on Thursday.

"Still there are five days to finish the window. Everything we said before, only injuries can change it, like Luiz is a player joining us because of central midfield injuries," Emery said when asked about Elliott's situation.

"With Harvey, it is not changing. We have our idea. I spoke with Harvey clearly. I said before that he is a fantastic guy.

"He was on the bench against Newcastle on Sunday and was there if we needed help from him, he was ready to play.

"Tomorrow he is in the squad as well. He is involved in the squad tomorrow, but it is not changing the situation he has now."

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There had been speculation at the start of the month that Liverpool and Villa could thrash out a deal which would see Elliott return to Anfield, given he is not part of the picture in the Midlands.

He could have, theoretically, provided cover for Mohamed Salah while the Egyptian was away at the Africa Cup of Nations this month.

But Salah has since returned to the Liverpool squad, with a need to bring Elliott back not as necessary as previously.

Despite his difficult predicament at Villa, as it stands, Elliott is set to stay there until the end of the season.

Another loan move has already been ruled out, because Elliott has played for both Liverpool and Villa this campaign. Players can only represent two European clubs in one season, according to UEFA rules.