Jamie Carragher tips Liverpool to bring back £35m star after Alexander Isak injury | Football

There is a ‘good chance’ Liverpool will recall Harvey Elliott from his nightmare loan spell at Aston Villa, Jamie Carragher says.

This comes after Alexander Isak suffered a suspected broken leg after scoring in the 2-1 win against Tottenham on Saturday.

The striker had only just started to look a little bit like the player Liverpool splashed a record £125million on last summer, but is now set for a lengthy period on the sidelines.

The injury is a disaster for Arne Slot, especially in the short-term with forwards Mohamed Salah away at the Africa Cup of Nations and Cody Gakpo injured. Defensive midfielder Wataru Endo is also in the treatment room.

One solution to the ever-growing injury crisis would be to bring back Elliott, who is primarily a No.10 but also capable of playing on the right-wing or in a deeper midfield role.

A highly-rated young talent, Elliott played a starring role in England’s triumph at the Under-21 Euros last summer, but game time was hard to come by under Slot.

He sought to leave Anfield last summer and was able to secure a loan move to Villa Park on deadline day, with the deal including an obligation to buy for £35million should he reach a number of appearances.

However, the 22-year-old has made just five appearances, two of them starts, for a total of just 174 minutes and has not kicked a ball since the start of October.

His lack of game time could be attributed to the Villans not wanting to pay the obligation clause, which has been all but confirmed by Unai Emery.

FIFA rules stipulate that a footballer cannot play for more than two clubs in one season and as he made two cameo appearances for the Reds in August, Elliott can’t be loaned out to a different team.

But could he still return to Merseyside and help out his parent club? Liverpool legend Carragher thinks so, telling Sky Sports: ‘One thing for certain now, Mo Salah will be staying at the club.

‘I think there’s a good chance Harvey Elliott would come back from Aston Villa as well.’

According to reports, there is no recall clause in the player’s contract but a deal could still be reached between the two clubs to cancel the loan in January, though that would be a blow to Liverpool’s finances.

Alternatively, Slot could sign a new forward to ease the loss of Isak, with Bournemouth winger Antoine Semenyo, who has a £65m release clause, a top target.

‘Whether Liverpool go for a striker or another attacking player like Semenyo, who Liverpool have been heavily linked with as well, I think we all know he’s got a buyout clause in January,’ Carragher added.

‘Then you’ve got wide players, as in Salah and Gakpo, who’ve played a lot of games through the middle as well. You’ve got young Jayden Danns.

‘But I think that’s the way they could go around it because I don’t think Liverpool, when you go back a few years, when they had a real problem at centre-back, they didn’t go and spend big money on someone they didn’t want.

‘So they won’t go out and buy a striker who they don’t really want. So if they do want Semenyo, I think that’s probably a good way around it.’

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