Aston Villa executive Damian Vidagany has claimed that the club was recently hours away from breaching profit and sustainability rules (PSR). The West Midlands club previously revealed losses of $151 million in the spring. Financial rules, however, state that Premier League teams cannot exceed $137 million in losses over three years.
Because of their precarious position, Villa bosses had to make some major moves this summer. This came even though the club secured a place in this season’s lucrative Champions League. Manager Unai Emery guided the Villans to fourth in the Premier League standings following the 2023/24 campaign. As a result, the team will now feature in the top club competition in Europe for the first time in over 40 years.
Despite receiving much-needed Champions League funds, Villa had to rush to sell a key player before July 1st. This is the first official day of the new 2024/25 financial calendar. Selling a star before the new financial year began allowed the club to put the created funds towards their previous losses.
Villa had seemingly agreed a deal to sell Douglas Luiz to Juventus in May. The Brazilian midfielder was one of the team’s standout players in recent years. Selling the star at this time would have given Villa plenty of time before the self-proposed deadline. Nevertheless, Juve eventually negotiated key aspects of the deal for more than a month.
Rather than paying Villa’s asking price for Luiz, the Old Lady insisted on including two players in the deal. Ultimately, the dynamic midfielder moved on to Juve for around $57 million. In turn, Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea both signed with Villa for a combined fee of $24 million. Villa later opted to send the duo out on loan for the 2024/25 season.
Despite the deals being connected, all three of the moves were technically seen as separate transfers. The complicated Luiz deal was officially completed within hours of July 1st.
Vidagany, Villa’s director of football operations, has now opened the lid on how stressful the situation was for the club. “We found ourselves in a situation where we had to make an important profit to avoid being in breach with the PSR (profit and sustainability rules),” explained Vidagany. “It was very challenging.”
“Everybody was cheering and celebrating the Champions League, but Monchi (Villa’s transfer chief) and I were at the party thinking how we could avoid a points deduction that would have spoiled a wonderful season. There was a bomb with the countdown, and we were there to cut the cable. We arrived at the last second with this problem.”
“From May 20th until June 30th is normally the holiday period for everyone in football but for us. It was a very difficult moment. It’s not just about selling players who will ensure you make a profit. At the same time, you have to sell the players that Unai Emery believes are not crucial for the team.”
Vidagany’s comments regarding Luiz’s place in the team are surprising how important the midfielder was to Villa. Nevertheless, the Brazilian was previously linked with several clubs in recent years. Fellow Premier League side Arsenal attempted to sign Luiz back in 2022.
The Villa exec resisted revealing how many points Villa could have been docked if they did not sell Luiz in time. Mail Sport, however, claims that it would have likely been around 10 points. This would have been a harsher punishment than either Everton or Nottingham Forest. Both teams were previously hit with points deductions for PSR breaches.
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