Chelsea have not learned from Liverpool's lesson

Aston Villa are reportedly prepared to back out of a deal to sign on-loan Chelsea winger Alejandro Garnacho permanently. The Argentine could find himself in a precarious situation at Villa Park just as Liverpool's Harvey Elliott did last season.

Garnacho arrived at Villa in July, having struggled to lock down starts at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea snapped up the wide player from Manchester United in August 2025 for an initial £40million, but in his 43 Blues appearances, he mustered just eight goals and four assists.

The 22-year-old therefore signed for Unai Emery's side on an initial season-long loan to revive his career. The deal contains an option to buy for £43m. This clause is thought to become an obligation should Garnacho make a certain number of appearances. However, to date, Garnacho has played just 60 competitive minutes in a Villa shirt.

He's appeared three times in the Premier League and twice in the Champions League, all from the bench. He did bag a goal in an autumn exhibition against Sevilla. But now, reports are suggesting that Villa could snub the £43m option to sign Garnacho on a permanent basis, meaning the winger could find himself in the same predicament Elliott faced.

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Football Insider claims that if Garnacho's form does not improve, then Villa will pull out of the appearance-based obligation to sign him. How, you may ask? By freezing him out of first-team contention if need be.

Villa have a track record in this department, too. Liverpool shipped promising attacker Elliott off to Villa Park last term on an initial season-long loan. However, had he made 10 Premier League appearances for Villa, the deal would have become permanent for £35m.

This deadline-day move quickly turned into a nightmare. Profit and Sustainability Rule concerns meant Villa reflected and deemed it unwise to part with £35m for the player. After failed attempts to renegotiate the fee, Elliott was left in limbo, as he had already played for Liverpool and Villa in the campaign and could not play for a third club if recalled.

Elliott was frozen out and made only four league appearances throughout the season. He featured sparingly in Europe, too, and overall, his year-long loan ended with him playing just nine games and starting just three times.

Manager Emery sympathised with Elliott's situation and the player joined Valencia on another loan from Liverpool this summer, hoping to reignite his career. He has since reflected on the Villa move as unfortunate and as both mentally and physically tough.

Garnacho now risks finding himself in Elliott's shoes. It is unknown just how many appearances the Argentine would need to make in order to trigger the £43m obligation. Asked last month why Garnacho has not been playing, Emery said: "[He has to] continue working. Work, work, train, work. When he can have minutes to play, try and play well.

"He is progressing, but we have players in front of him now. George [Hemmings] is playing fantastic. Alysson is also understanding things well and is giving us things I want.

"[Ibrahim] Mbaye also responded well. We want a competitive team and players to compete in the style we have. Garnacho is a little bit behind, because of some circumstances we had in pre-season. It is time to be patient for the time he needs."