Aston Villa players have been reacting to the news that 18-year-old Omari Kellyman has left the club to sign for Chelsea.
Aston Villa have see their summer dealings so far chiefly relate to selling players in order to ensure the club comply with Premier League spending rules.
Unai Emery‘s side needed an injection of cash to avoid a PSR breach and it now looks as though they have managed that through the sales of Tim Iroegbunam to Everton, Douglas Luiz to Juventus and Omari Kellyman to Chelsea.
The fee for Kellyman’s move is £19 million – a staggering fee for a 19-year-old who has made just six Villa appearances – and has gone a long way to ensure financial stability at Villa Park.
Omari Kellyman posts Aston Villa farewell
Villa took advantage of Derby County’s financial woes to sign Kellyman as a 16-year-old two-and-a-half years ago, with a tribunal determining they had to pay the Rams £500k.
Now, they have turned a profit of £18.5 million for a player who may well have never broken into the first team.
Chelsea are another club who have had concerns regarding PSR and Villa have taken advantage of this to secure the £35 million signing of left-back Ian Maatsen.
With both Maatsen and Kellyman classed as academy graduates, their sales are considered pure profit in PSR terms which is the main reason we are currently seeing so many deals for young talents between Premier League clubs.
Kellyman will hope that his move to Chelsea is not just merely an accounting trick, but that there is a pathway for him at the club.
The 18-year-old took to Instagram to post a picture of himself in Villa’s colours with the short farewell caption that read: ‘Thank you Aston Villa’.
Aston Villa players react to Kellyman departure
Kellyman’s message was short and sweet, however he had already taken to ‘X’ where he wrote a more heartfelt goodbye.
The youngster has made an impact amongst his teammates and made his Premier League debut against Manchester City in April.
Villa players took to Kellyman’s Instagram post to give the new Chelsea signing their well-wishes, with Moussa Diaby and recently-departed Tim Iroegbunam both simply posting two hearts.
Morgan Rogers, who only joined Villa himself in January, responded ‘Good luck bro’, whilst Lucas Digne commented ‘Crack’ which is a Spanish slang term of endearment.
Villa fans will be hoping they will not have to see too many more farewell messages this summer and can instead look forward to signings ahead of another huge season.
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