Harvey Elliott will still be a Liverpool player at the start of next season after spending the current campaign not playing on loan at Aston Villa .
After agreeing a £35million obligation to buy the England international on the condition he played 10 Premier League matches for the Midlands side, he has not even managed half of that amount.
Elliott, 23, has made just four appearances in the league, but only one of those has come since the end of September.
He featured the same number of times during their run to the Europa League final, although his appearances in the knockout stages were late cameos.
Emery spoke about the situation before Villa hosted the Reds on Friday night.
He said: "It is something embarrassing for everyone involved.
"My apologies for Harvey Elliott is every day in my mind, but it is [about] responsibility; we have our responsibility, and Liverpool have their responsibility.
It is something, as a human and as a person, how the season has gone has been difficult." Emery added: "To now explain about the reason for this decision is very difficult.
Or it is easy, but it is not the moment." Slot also spoke about Liverpool's plan for next season, saying: "He is contracted to us, so he will be with us at the start of next season." The midfielder will therefore return months after emotionally saying goodbye to his boyhood club.
FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE! All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook page Upon initially joining Villa last summer, Elliott penned on social media: "When I joined Liverpool in 2019, it was a dream come true for my family and me.
As a young child, I travelled the world supporting the team as a fan, and words will never be able to explain the feeling I had when I pulled on that famous red shirt for the first time as a player.
"Over the course of the last six years, I've experienced so much and grown from a young 16-year-old boy into a man during my time at the club.
Growing up, I could never have imagined that I'd go on to play 150 games for my boyhood team, winning seven major trophies and....
