Aston Villa’s transfer chiefs have played the hand they’ve been dealt
10:13, 11 Apr 2025Updated 10:41, 11 Apr 2025
Aston Villa’s Damian Vidagany, Unai Emery and Monchi
Aston Villa have climbed to great heights in a short space of time, but they are still constrained by Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR) until they can consistently generate revenues comparable to those of the ‘big six’.
This season, the club hopes to generate around £370m in revenue – approximately £100m more than the last campaign.
Champions League football, clearly, is the key difference. But any team that fails to generate at least £450m a year is at a disadvantage to the group who sought to form a breakaway European Super League a few years ago, simply because the rules allow those clubs to be more competitive in the transfer market.
Villa, meanwhile, must sell players to generate funds for reinvestment in their squad.
Last season, Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby were sold for a combined total of around £100m, following the £29m raised from the sales of Tim Iroegbunam and Omari Kellyman.
The rules are unfair. To consistently compete for Champions League qualification, a club must generate substantial revenue.
So how do you raise revenue and attract commercial interest? You have to win football matches and be successful on the pitch.
But to win matches and break into the top seven, Unai Emery has shown that improving the entire squad is paramount.
Not every club has an elite coach, and, unfortunately, a strong squad can be dismantled due to financial constraints that limit spending relative to revenue.
The process is not fit for purpose, despite the Premier League’s claim that PSR “promotes aspiration of clubs”.
Teams not only struggle to build on successful campaigns – such as reinforcing their squads to handle the demands of European competition – but are often forced to rebuild after key player sales.
Villa have built an impressively deep squad through forward planning and shrewd business – signing Youri Tielemans on a free transfer and Ross Barkley for a minimal fee, are just two examples.
They also brought in three players on loan in January, all on significant wages – something that may not have been feasible without last season’s fourth-placed finish.
Furthermore, they sold Jhon Durán for a hefty £65 million (plus add-ons) to Saudi club Al-Nassr following his electric start to the season.
Since the 2023 summer window, Villa’s net spend is among the lowest in the league – comparable to teams battling relegation.
Meanwhile, clubs like Chelsea, Tottenham, and Manchester United – backed by vast revenue streams – top the net spend list, having splashed hundreds of millions of pounds since the start of last season.
PSR needs reforming, but Villa have played the hand they’ve been dealt remarkably well.
This season, transfer chiefs Monchi and Damian Vidagany recorded a positive net spend of over £30m, while also improving the balance and depth of Unai Emery’s squad.
So even though the club will likely sell players again this summer, there is enough evidence to suggest Villa will emerge from each challenging window with a squad capable of executing Emery’s demands and competing for the lofty ambitions he sets out to achieve.
Supporters shouldn’t be scared about the prospect of losing players, but instead trust the recruitment process which has helped take the club this far already.
“We were not afraid to sell players, but we had to do it within a plan,” Monchi explained back in August. “In my opinion, we need to sell players because City sell players, Arsenal sell players, Real Madrid and Barcelona sell players.
“We are not afraid to sell players. The most important thing is to have, one – a buyer, and two – buy a player to replace this one.”
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