Unai Emery could sanction a surprise Aston Villa swoop for a former Chelsea Champions League winner
Aston Villa won’t be able to splash the cash as they may hope this summer due to a host of financial restrictions imposed by the Premier League and UEFA, so cut-price signings may be the best route to success – and there’s a genius move for a former Chelsea star that could really pay off.
The Villans are struggling to conform to the English top tier’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR) and need to make at least one significant sale - or sanction several less lucrative departures - to just avoid punishments. Premier League teams are not allowed to lose more than £105 million over a three-year period and Villa are walking a fine line.
Then there’s the UEFA squad cost ratio (SCR) rule that stipulates clubs are capped at spending 70 per cent of their revenue on player wages. This has been implemented gradually, with a 90 per cent threshold in 2023/24, an 80 per cent threshold in 2024/25, and the final 70 per cent threshold in 2025/26. Villa’s wages-to-revenue ratio stood at 86 per cent in 2023/24 and reduced last season, but only because of the club’s involvement in the Champions League.
Playing in the Europa League is a fine privilege but one that is costly in comparison to the more elite competition Villa could have been in. Not qualifying for the Champions League lost the Villans up to £100 million extra revenue – a huge blow and one that won’t make the transfer window easy to navigate as the SCR figures will be punishing.
Manager Unai Emery and president of football operations Monchi have been working tirelessly since the season’s end and will continue right up until the PSR deadline on June 30, as well as beyond in respect to SCR. High earners such as Emiliano Martinez and Leon Bailey are likely to leave the club and be replaced by players with lower salaries, while other new signings will have to be shrewd.
Who could Villa realistically sign, then? Well, bearing in mind Emery is eager to bring in a new left winger, a striker, a central midfielder, a goalkeeper and a centre-back, we thought we’d take a look at options for the latter. It didn’t take long to discover a truly superb option and one we believe Villa should go all in to sign.
Aston Villa could cut expensive corner by signing Barcelona gem
Villa could take advantage of a developing situation at Barcelona this summer to transform their defensive options, fixing a big problem from last season. The lack of depth was laid bare at the start of the year as Pau Torres was sidelined for several months with a broken metatarsal and Tyrone Mings was rushed back sooner than the medical staff recommended.
Signing Barça’s Andreas Christensen could end those woes. According to Spanish journalist Javi Miguel, the 29-year-old’s contract won’t be renewed and Barça are looking to land a transfer fee before it expires next June. Manager Hansi Flick is said to want Christensen to stay but technical director Deco is prioritising other options.
Christensen missed much of last season due to an Achilles tendon injury but returned at the end and looked like he’d never been gone, slotting back into the back four seamlessly. The 74-time Denmark international played 42 times in all competitions throughout the previous 2023/24 campaign and on 32 occasions the season before that. He was an important player but is now allowed to leave.
Villa should try and tempt Barcelona with an offer, we believe, as Christensen could fit into Emery’s system superbly. Although he’s right-footed, the former Chelsea hero, a Champions League winner with the Blues in 2021, has often played as a left centre-half. That’s exactly where Emery would deploy him, rotating in for Pau and Mings, though he could also play on the right.
Christensen could even play as a defensive midfielder if required as he’s good on the ball and has great awareness, handy when faced with a high press as Villa are regularly. There aren’t many centre-backs of Christensen’s quality available in the transfer market and Villa could dig into his experience to help them on their push for the Europa League title – as well as a return to the Premier League top five.
It awaits to be seen just how much Barcelona would need to be offered to sell Christensen but his current market value, as per Transfermarkt, is around £10.2 million. That could be an absolute bargain and Villa would get value for money even if they got 20 or so good appearances out of him a season.
So, then, would you like to see Villa sign Christensen? Have we done enough to convince you? Let us know in the comments section.
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