Harvey Elliott’s struggles at Valencia have gone from bad to worse, with the Liverpool loanee being torn to shreds by the Spanish media after his costly red card in his side’s defeat to Villarreal on Saturday.

The attacking midfielder has struggled to make an impact at his new club to date, having joined the LaLiga side in an effort to rebuild his career after faltering during a similar stint at Aston Villa last season.

Elliott has not exactly walked into a club brimming with confidence from top to bottom, with Valencia sitting in the relegation zone and already having changed their manager this term following a fan protest at how the club is currently being run.

During that chaotic start to the campaign, Elliott has been forced to wait for opportunities to make his mark at the Mestalla.

The 23-year-old has played just 152 minutes of action so far, with all of his appearances coming off the bench, and his latest will not live long in the memory.

Having come on with 20 minutes to go, Elliott was sent off in bizarre circumstances, as his side ended up crashing a 2-1 home defeat.

The Reds loanee appeared to be cautioned twice by the referee in quick succession late in the game for disagreeing with a decision, with the quickfire yellows resulting in a sending off.

The match was level at 1-1 at the time, with Georges Mikautadze then winning it in the 96th minute for the visitors to leave Valencia sitting second-bottom of the table.

Aguirre defends Elliott but Spanish media not so kind

Valencia boss Javier Aguirre raged at the decision and defended Elliott, revealing that he told the attacker that it was not his fault that he was sent off.

Marca quotes Aguirre as saying: “We weren’t playing badly, and an absurd and ridiculous sending-off of someone who barely speaks Spanish really irritates me. And I already told him that.

“It’s not his fault, but entirely my fault for playing the player I did. We’ll talk about it behind closed doors.”

The Spanish media were bot quite so kind, with Valencia-centric Spanish news outlet Super Deporte  giving Elliott 0/10 for his damaging cameo.

They stated: “Learning Spanish is the least of it. What’s more important is that he learns what it means to wear the Valencia CF shirt.

“He was sent off for protesting. Instead of focusing on winning the match, he started doing something inappropriate with the referee.

“And although it was a ridiculous sending-off that shows how thin-skinned he is about Valencia CF, the Englishman should have spared himself the trouble.”