Harvey Elliott joined Valencia on loan from Liverpool in the summer, hoping to bounce back and prove his quality after last season’s difficult spell at Aston Villa.
However, the 23-year-old now faces an uphill battle to endear himself to the club’s supporters, his new teammates and coaching staff after being sent off during Valencia’s 2-1 defeat against Villarreal on Saturday night.
Elliott was named among the substitutes but was brought on with 20 minutes left to play, replacing forward Javi Guerra.
The former England Under-21 international was sent on moments after Alex Freeman had equalised for Villarreal, who were reduced to 10 men in the 79th minute when Pape Gueye was shown a straight red card.
However, Elliott cost his side dearly by picking up two yellow cards in quick succession in the 89th minute.
While the video footage makes it difficult to work out exactly what happened, The Mirror say Elliott was booked for a foul before being shown a second yellow card for dissent. Watch the clip below:
Georges Mikautadze then scored a dramatic late winner for Villarreal, leaving Valencia 19th in the La Liga table, having picked up six points from their opening 10 matches.
Valencia Boss Slams Elliott After Red Card
Valencia’s fuming manager Javier Aguirre slammed Elliott after the match.
“It’s an absurd, ridiculous sending-off,” he said. “I don’t know what he could have said to the referee, he barely speaks Spanish, so getting sent off for something he said just makes me angry.
“It’s a ridiculous dismissal, and I told him as much. It’s not his fault; the fault is mine, though I’ll address it with him privately. Ultimately, the responsibility is mine, because I’m the one who decides who plays and how we play.”
He added: “We were in a solid position and it was 11 against 10, but the sending-off disrupted everything. We ended up playing an all-or-nothing, wide-open game.”
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Elliott has only played a bit-part role at Valencia so far this season, and Saturday’s incident won’t improve his chances of making his first start for the Spanish club in the near future.
The winger has played 152 minutes in six La Liga appearances, failing to score or assist a goal so far, but has now been shown one red card.
Elliott was an important player for Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool during the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns but appears to have lost his way over the past couple of seasons.
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