Aston Villa are expected to have a busy summer transfer window ahead of the 2024/25 season.
Unai Emery has done a remarkable job at the Villa Park club, steering Aston Villa to a Champions League spot as well as a run to the Europa Conference League semi-final.
Qualification for Europe’s elite club competition brings with it fresh challenges and Villa will need to act in the summer transfer window to ensure their squad is prepared to fight on all fronts and against a better calibre of opponents.
Whilst a spot in the Champions League coupled with the opportunity to play under Emery makes Villa an attractive proposition to any potential targets, any fans that hoped the club will now be able to play fast and loose with the fees they can pay may have to re-evaluate.
That is because, according to a report in The Athletic, Villa will still have to be very mindful of the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations (PSR).
Aston Villa may have to sell to buy following Champions League qualification
PSR regulations have been a hot topic in England, with Everton and Nottingham Forest both falling victim to points deductions this season as a result of their finances.
Fortunately for both sides they managed to escape relegation following the deductions, however there can be serious implications for clubs who are deemed to break PSR.
The Athletic’s end of season review for Aston Villa spoke of how PSR will be the issue that dominates the summer for the club, with president of football operations Monchi likely to have to be very clever with his recruitment to avoid any breaches.
The Athletic explained: “Champions League riches will add to the revenue pot for the next set of accounts and help alleviate PSR pressures, but Villa are still mindful of their outlay.
“There is a feeling the club will need to sell to buy the type of marquee addition a team in their position would ordinarily desire. Who the player(s) is, though, will be a consequence of PSR.”
The article went on to highlight why this is such a worry for Villa in particular, explaining: “Villa’s wages-to-turnover ratio — the percentage of money spent on employees’ salaries — was 89 per cent in 2022 and 2023, the fourth highest in the Premier League.
“Tellingly, the three clubs above were Leicester City, Nottingham Forest and Everton, all of whom have breached PSR rules and are in varying processes of being sanctioned. It may be a tedious issue but is not one that is going to go away.”
PSR makes it difficult for Aston Villa to compete with European elite
The issue many have with PSR is that it can seem like a mechanism to gate-keep elite European football for a select few clubs.
The regulations are designed to protect clubs from falling into financial ruin, however have proved costly for Everton and Forest and likely will be for Leicester following their return to the Premier League.
Villa should be excited at the prospect of attracting a higher calibre of player this summer as their Champions League dream is realised 41 years after last playing in the competition that was then known as the European Cup.
Whilst the anticipation remains, it is somewhat overshadowed by the knowledge that big money marquee signings may be difficult due to the aforementioned financial rules the Premier League has implemented.
The PSR rules to appear to make it incredibly difficult for any ambitious club to take that next step in their progression in a bid to keep the ‘top six’ as exclusive a club as possible.
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