\u201cIt\u2019s crazy. I don\u2019t understand it myself but from the outside looking in, it doesn\u2019t look too good,\u201d Ezri Konsa said in response to Aston Villa\u2019s restricted transfer business this summer. \u201cI know that and I know it\u2019s really killed us this transfer window. We\u2019re going to have to deal with what we\u2019ve got now.\u201d<\/p>\n
But we wonder whether it\u2019s more \u201ccrazy\u201d that an Aston Villa player, a senior one at that and by all accounts a smart guy, doesn\u2019t really know why \u2013 since Unai Emery took charge of the club in November 2022, across six transfer windows \u2013 Villa\u2019s net spend<\/strong><\/a> has been positive,\u00a0with the club making \u00a310.7m more than they have spent.<\/p>\n The Villa fans chanted in harmony with their Newcastle counterparts at Villa Park last month in criticism of the financial regulations which they \u2013 not unreasonably \u2013 see as the main barrier preventing them from competing with the elite.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Villa and Newcastle among transfer window losers as idea of a Big Eight suffers fatal blow<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Their view is that the \u2018Big Six\u2019 are being protected by the Premier League through rules designed to keep them and other so-called lesser teams from rising up and challenging for major titles.<\/p>\n \u201cThere are rules which are pretty much unfair if you ask me,\u201d says Villa captain John McGinn. \u201cWe have got owners who want to invest in the team and want to spend to kick the club on, but they are not allowed to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018Premier League, corrupt as f***\u2019 was the shared sentiment between those Villa and Newcastle fans, to which Premier League CEO Richard Masters\u2019 response could justifiably be one of confusion as to why UEFA and president Aleksander \u010ceferin weren\u2019t bearing the brunt of their dissatisfaction courtesy of their far more stringent and limiting regulations.<\/p>\n Villa\u2019s spending has indeed been hindered by the Premier League profit and sustainability rules (PSR), but UEFA\u2019s squad cost rules (SCR), which state that a club can only spend up to 70% of its revenue on player wages, are far more critical to them right now.<\/p>\n MORE ASTON VILLA COVERAGE ON F365<\/strong> While at the end of last season Tottenham were spending 46% of their revenue on wages, with Manchester United and Arsenal at 51%, Villa\u2019s wages-to-revenue ratio was a whopping 91%, which led to a \u00a39.5m fine in July.<\/p>\n And while the Premier League\u2019s guidelines state that a club can only record losses of \u00a3105m over a three-year period, with this set to be Villa\u2019s third successive year in UEFA competition, they will now have to comply with the European governing body\u2019s restriction of \u00a360m. Failure to do so will see them hit by another fine of \u00a312.9m.<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udc49 Liverpool \u2018only clause\u2019 to sign Villa star \u2018as early as January\u2019 revealed; next \u2018big-money target lined up\u2019<\/a><\/strong>
\ud83d\udc49 Premier League back-up goalkeepers ranked: Kepa over Onana, Liverpool man comfortably top<\/a><\/strong>
\ud83d\udc49\u00a0F365\u2019s 2025\/26 season predictions revised post transfer window<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n