Liverpool have been in Valencia this week, to get a first-hand impression on how Harvey Elliott’s loan spell at the Spanish club is going.
Elliott joined Valencia on loan in the summer transfer window when it was made clear that he was not a part of Andoni Iraola’s plans this season.
He’s had an interesting start to life at the Mestalla since. First and foremost, he’s managed just five appearances in La Liga, totalling 133 minutes. He is yet to start a league game for them and has yet to manage more than 36 minutes in any game.
Most of those appearances have come after the international break. Before then, things were looking a little grim for the 23-year-old.
Fitness questions
For instance, Sport Witness reported how the Liverpool loanee had been put on a special regime to get into better shape. He was, it was reported, noticeably out of shape.
A report at the end of September then detailed how he was working with a coach to get into shape and kickstart his loan spell. That appeared to be working as Sport Witness then reported how things were starting to look up. Now it seems that Liverpool want to check in.
Marca report that this week saw a special visitor from Anfield making the trip to Valencia. His name is Kiko Espinar, a scout for the Reds in Spain.
He travelled to the Mestalla to meet the player and Valencia sporting director Braulio. They discussed various aspects of the loan deal, including the possibility of terminating the loan in January. That was, reportedly, ruled out entirely.
Liverpool official speaks to player and manager
The official then spoke to the player and Valencia manager Javier Aguirre. He wanted to know – on Liverpool’s behalf – to understand the manager’s plans for the player in their upcoming fixtures.
Valencia, incidentally, take on Villarreal on Saturday. They were, ironically, at Liverpool in the Champions League this week. Los Che then take on Tavernes in the Copa del Rey, Elche and then Real Madrid at the beginning of November.
Liverpool will be hoping that Elliott is scheduled to feature in those games. In the meantime, Marca state that the loanee has been assigned a nutritionist to help him regain his proper weight and fitness.
The newspaper states the plan is to integrate him gradually to ensure he can become competitive again in Spain. Liverpool are a part of that plan and wanted an update this week to ensure everything is aligned.
