Monday brought some deadline day double loanee delight to Aston Villa, as attacking midfielders Harvey Elliott (£5.4m) and Jaden Sancho (£5.9m) arrived from Liverpool and Manchester United.
While the latter is a straight loan deal with no obligation to buy, the former’s year-long borrowing will become permanent once he’s made 10 appearances. The rumoured fee is around £35m.
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So, what impact will Elliott and Sancho have in Fantasy Premier League (FPL)?
We’ll take a look during this Moving Target piece, including data and images from our Premium Members Area.
HARVEY ELLIOTT
HISTORY
Elliott arrived at Liverpool from Fulham in 2019, seen as one of the country’s most precocious and highly rated teenagers. He was just 16 years and 30 days when he became the youngest player to appear in the Premier League at the time.
After a promising 2020/21 loan spell at Blackburn Rovers, he didn’t break into Liverpool’s first team until 2022/23. A consistent run of 11 starts came in the following campaign, but he regressed to a bit-part role under Arne Slot last season, starting just twice.
A lifelong Liverpool fan, Elliott has done little wrong during his time there, often being called upon to bring creativity off the bench when the team struggles to unlock opponents. But he has found it difficult to forge a pathway through such an abundance of attacking talent.
| SEASON | CLUB | DIVISION | STARTS (SUB) | GOALS | ASSISTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | Liverpool | Premier League | 2 (16) | 1 | 2 |
| 2023/24 | Liverpool | Premier League | 11 (23) | 3 | 9 |
| 2022/23 | Liverpool | Premier League | 18 (14) | 1 | 2 |
| 2021/22 | Liverpool | Premier League | 4 (2) | 0 | 0 |
| 2020/21 | Blackburn Rovers (loan) | Championship | 31 (10) | 7 | 11 |
It can be argued that he’s fared better in the Champions League, scoring three goals in five appearances last season – including a key strike against Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16. It took him to five from 14 appearances in Europe’s top club competition.
At Liverpool, they’re hoping that more game time at Villa will help unlock his potential, as the Reds have reportedly placed a buy-back option and sell-on clause in the agreement.
Elliott is fresh from a victorious European U21 Championship in which he scored five goals, including two in the semi-final and one in the final, and was voted Player of the Tournament.
PLAYING STYLE
Unai Emery is getting a creative attacking midfielder who is adept at finding pockets of space between the lines and using his close control to beat a man.
More often than not, he has been deployed on the right wing, where he’s tended to invert. He was often asked by Jurgen Klopp, in the German’s last season at the club, to use his vision to make quick, short passes that unlock deep blocks.
Above: Members Area data showing Elliott’s 2023/24 touch heatmap (left) and chances created (right), with assists in green
In 2023/24, he created 37 chances at a rate of one per 40 minutes, made 74 penalty-area touches and accumulated 49 goal attempts.
According to FBref, over the last 12 months, his rate of non-penalty goals, attempted passes and progressive ones sits inside the top one per cent of this position’s players across the big five European leagues. He’s also in the top six per cent for total shots.
Though he isn’t a big tackler, Elliott fares well when it comes to clearances, blocks and interceptions, so this could make him handy for FPL’s new defensive contribution (DefCon) points.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Still only 22, Elliott is a talented and intelligent midfielder. Emery likes such versatility, knowing he can help supply Ollie Watkins (£8.9m) – a service that’s been sorely lacking so far.
Saying goodbye to Marco Asensio, Marcus Rashford, Leon Bailey and Jacob Ramsey (£5.5m) has clearly blunted Villa’s attack. They are the only Premier League team yet to score, and, after Wolverhampton Wanderers, provide the worst expected goals (xG, 2.53) tally.
The arrival of Elliott should address Villa’s creativity problem and, at £5.4m, FPL managers get a midfielder with proven end-product, who has a very decent chance of starting in Gameweek 4.
The next six fixtures still look very appealing for Villa, making him an interesting Fantasy option. If nothing else, it can be great news for Watkins’ owners.
JADON SANCHO
HISTORY
Something of a Premier League enigma, Sancho’s time at both Manchester United and Chelsea have nowhere near lived up to the promise he showed when first breaking through at Borussia Dortmund.
His breakthrough 2018/19 campaign involved 12 Bundesliga goals and 18 assists. The following season was even better, bringing 17 of each, before 2020/21’s goal involvements shifted down to 20.
United eventually swooped, but his numbers in a new league were a huge disappointment. After Erik ten Hag questioned his professionalism, Sancho fell out of favour and briefly returned to Dortmund on loan.
Here, he successfully revived this previous form and helped Die Schwarzgelben reach the Champions League final.
| SEASON | CLUB | DIVISION | STARTS (SUB) | GOALS | ASSISTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024/25 | Chelsea (loan) | Premier League | 19 (12) | 3 | 5 |
| 2023/24 | Borussia Dortmund (loan) | Bundesliga | 11 (3) | 2 | 3 |
| 2023/24 | Manchester United | Premier League | 0 (3) | 0 | 0 |
| 2022/23 | Manchester United | Premier League | 21 (5) | 6 | 3 |
| 2021/22 | Manchester United | Premier League | 20 (9) | 3 | 3 |
| 2020/21 | Borussia Dortmund | Bundesliga | 24 (2) | 8 | 12 |
| 2019/20 | Borussia Dortmund | Bundesliga | 25 (7) | 17 | 17 |
| 2018/19 | Borussia Dortmund | Bundesliga | 26 (8) | 12 | 18 |
This encouraged Chelsea to try their luck with Sancho. Unfortunately, he only flickered into life intermittently, producing just three goals and five assists. He couldn’t secure a starting berth in such a bloated squad that boasted countless midfielders.
Though he scored in the Blues’ Conference League final win, this wasn’t enough to tempt them into a permanent move. In fact, they preferred paying a £5m penalty in order to send him back to OId Trafford.
PLAYING STYLE
A fast, skilful winger who loves running at defenders, Sancho can play on either flank but has predominantly been on the left.
Above: Members Area data showing Sancho’s 2024/45 touch heatmap (left) and chances created (right), with assists in green
He attempted 97 take-ons last season (46% success rate) and created 38 chances (one per 47 minutes).
However, his crossing was pretty woeful. None of the attempted 25 were successful. When compared to other wide players in Europe’s top five leagues, last year’s stats don’t particularly pull up any trees and his defensive stats are negligible.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Again, Villa lacked attacking options heading into deadline day. Sancho intends to bring pace and positivity to their attack, helping them stretch defences and provide service to Watkins.
He’ll likely feature on the left wing, with Elliott on the right, but Emery might also have plans for the latter to play just off Watkins.
Villa had to explore the last-gasp loan market to comply with UEFA financial regulations, so the Sancho move appears to be an expedient one. He brings versatility and depth, which they massively need ahead of this Europa League campaign.
Furthermore, perhaps Villa are the right club for Sancho right now. Expectations are lower than at Man Utd and Chelsea, giving him breathing room to finally adapt to Premier League life.
Not that FPL managers should touch him yet, with the lack of consistency away from Bundesliga life a huge concern.
