New manager Andoni Iraola, meanwhile, confirmed centre-back Joe Gomez will now miss the start of the Premier League campaign through injury.
A £35m obligation-to-buy clause sat in Elliott's loan agreement, triggered only if he reached 10 Villa appearances; Unai Emery's side never came close to needing it, using him just nine times for a combined 277 minutes across the season. The 23-year-old came back to Liverpool earlier than scheduled this year and has since played in both pre-season fixtures under Iraola.
"I wanted to go and explore something, come out of my comfort zone and do something I thought personally that would take me on as a player again. But unfortunately it didn't work out," he said after Wednesday's 1-0 win over Wrexham in New York.
Elliott has resisted framing the year as wasted.
"Mentally, it was a very tough one, it was a learning curve," he said. "It was an opportunity for me to experience something new, as much as I didn't want to do it, and I don't wish it upon any other player, because it's not nice at all. But I have no hard feelings. I'm on the other side of it now. I was able to get through it and achieve something at the end of the season as well, another historical moment for the club, and to be part of that was another great situation" — a reference to Villa's Europa League triumph.
His route back into regular first-team football is far from guaranteed. Elliott made just 18 Premier League appearances during Arne Slot's title-winning 2024-25 season before departing for the West Midlands, having come through Fulham's academy and made his top-flight debut at 16 prior to joining Liverpool in 2019.
"Now I'm here and it's kind of a second chance, if you want to call it. Especially with the gaffer and new coaching staff coming in, it's another chance to impress and hopefully get in their good books," he said, adding warmly of his old loan club: "I wish Villa nothing but the very best. I had a lot of love for them and they treated me very well. Unfortunately, the situation happened but it's another learning curve. I'm here now and I'm trying to cement my spot in the team or within the squad."
Elliott, Player of the Tournament as England's Under-21s won Euro 2025, was reluctant to set a timeline on resolving his Anfield future.
"I'm really happy to be back. Since the first day I walked through the door at training, I had a big beaming smile on my face. I just want to be free, and play as much as I can, and just enjoy it, because sometimes I don't feel like I do it enough. Playing at Liverpool, there's no better feeling."
Liverpool's defensive options took a hit of their own on the same trip. Gomez went off just eight minutes into Saturday's 4-2 win over Sunderland in Nashville with what Iraola described as a muscle problem, and the head coach used Thursday's press conference in Chicago to confirm the defender will not be fit for the Premier League opener.
"Joe has a muscle injury. It was quite clear since he complained straight away so he will be some weeks off," Iraola said. "It's difficult to say — normally one month. If it goes very good, then a little bit less. If it goes bad then a bit more but it's a muscle injury. It's not massive. It will be impossible to have him for the start of the season because we are not so far off but it shouldn't be a lot more."
With Ibrahima Konaté having left for Real Madrid this summer, Liverpool's centre-back options are stretched thin: 18-year-olds Mor Talla Ndiaye and Ifeanyi Ndukwe have deputised through the US tour, Jérémy Jacquet is easing back from a shoulder issue, and captain Virgil van Dijk has yet to join the group after his own extended World Cup break.