It has been widely reported that the Liverpool loanee would become a permanent member of Unai Emery's squad once he makes his 10th appearance for the club.
In that case, Villa would be obliged to pay £35 million to sign the midfielder, but he has so far made only five appearances, starting twice.
Elliott scored on his first start for Villa -- against Brentford in the Carabao Cup -- before starting again the following week against Fulham.
Since being taken off at half-time in the 3-1 win over Fulham, Elliott has featured just once, coming on late in the victory over Feyenoord.
After being left on the bench against Burnley, Tottenham, and Go Ahead Eagles, he was then excluded from the squad entirely for last weekend's clash with Manchester City.
Before the match, Emery spoke about the intense competition for places in the position where he believes Elliott performs best, which he says is the reason the 22-year-old hasn't received as much game time as he would have liked.
"I am being very, very demanding myself to choose in each match the player to start and the players on the bench and the subs players, and firstly is always trying to get the best performance collectively, through individual players," Emery said in his pre-match press conference.
"Harvey is a 10 number in our structure, in our shape, and he plays some matches and there is still adaptation to add himself individually in our structure, the task we have.
"Of course, he is training well, and his commitment is being very well as well, but his performance was not enough (up to this point).
"At the same time, we have other players who can play as a 10 and they are performing well, and I have different players.
"This is the main reason he is not playing the last matches minutes, but he has to continue working like he is doing in the training session and of course getting his confidence in the performance we need through him."
Emery added: "His quality, in my opinion, is to play No 10. He can maybe play wide right, like John McGinn, but he will need more time.
"At the beginning I signed him thinking him to play No 10 and getting the performance and getting him to play consistently for us. There are other players who can play there."
On the latest Claret & Blue Q&A, Dan Rolinson and John Townley were asked about Elliott's situation, specifically the conspiracy theory that has emerged suggesting Emery isn't playing Elliott so that he doesn't reach appearance number 10 before the end of the year.
"Unai Emery essentially said he had to leave one player out of the squad because he wanted a more balanced bench, with coverage across different positions," Townley explained.
"So, you've got players like Lindelof and Maatsen included to offer that squad balance. Emery has mentioned several times that while others see Elliott as a midfielder or winger, he views him primarily as a number 10 - that's where he believes he can best use his qualities.
"Even so, it's surprising to see a player of Elliott's quality left out completely. He's versatile - able to play off the right, through the middle, or even a bit deeper if needed. Emery often talks about valuing players who can fill multiple roles, so this decision feels a little inconsistent with that philosophy.
"Elliott wasn't omitted due to injury or illness - just tactical preference. With nine spots available on the bench, it's surprising that he didn't make it, and he can't play this weekend either. That brings us closer to the conspiracy that Emery could be looking to avoid the appearance clause.
"We don't know the exact details of that clause - whether the payment is due immediately after his 10th appearance, or at the next transfer window, or even in the summer. That makes a big difference. If it's payable before January, for instance, delaying that trigger could make sense financially. UEFA's financial year runs on a calendar basis, whereas the Premier League's PSR model resets on June 30. So Villa may want to avoid activating the clause before the end of the year for accounting reasons.
"Emery's situation with Elliott isn't like other fringe players in the past. When he benched players such as Augustinsson, it was clear they weren't part of his long-term plans. But Elliott is different. Emery has said that he personally approved his signing and spoke to him before he joined. This wasn't a case of the sporting director bringing in someone the manager hadn't requested.
"If we had clarity on the payment clause, that would likely explain a lot. Still, it's puzzling that he hasn't even made the bench for a team that, at times, could have used his creativity. Emery's public comments about him have been positive - praising his attitude and work ethic, saying his opportunity will come and he'll need to take it. But it does feel like there's more going on.
"Of course, Villa's strong form has helped quieten the noise. If results had stayed poor, the "Why isn't Elliott playing?" question would dominate every press conference. But because the team is winning, it's become more of a background topic.
"That said, if he misses out again after the international break - with no minutes against Maccabi Tel Aviv or Bournemouth - the speculation will only increase. By then, we might finally learn the exact terms of his deal, which could shed light on what's happening.
"Something's clearly not adding up here - you don't just leave out a player of Elliott's quality without a good reason."
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