Aston Villa have the option to sell their women's team to raise revenue
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Villa Park, the home of Aston Villa
Aston Villa may need to get creative as PSR pressures grow
(Image: Getty Images)
After failing to qualify for the Champions League, Aston Villa may need to explore creative solutions to raise revenue.
Last summer, Villa were forced to sell assets to comply with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), as well as UEFA’s squad cost regulations.
Douglas Luiz and Moussa Diaby were the headline sales, while Amadou Onana, Ian Maatsen, and Ross Barkley were promoted to the first team. Jaden Philogene also joined the first team before being sold to Ipswich Town in January.
Samuel Iling-Junior, Enzo Barrenechea, and Lewis Dobbin, who joined from Juventus and Everton respectively, all embarked on loan moves.
After selling Philogene in January, Villa also transferred Diego Carlos permanently to Fenerbahçe, before Jhon Duran completed a £65 million move to Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr.
Villa recruited Donyell Malen and Andres Garcia for a combined fee of around £26 million. Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio, and Axel Disasi were then loaned in from Manchester United, Paris Saint-Germain, and Chelsea.
Unai Emery’s side gave themselves a great chance of finishing in the top five by winning eight of their nine games before the final day.
Although their campaign ended in controversy, Villa fell to a 2-0 defeat at Manchester United’s Old Trafford, ultimately qualifying for the Europa League instead.
Villa made around £100 million from their Champions League exploits last season, including gate receipts, broadcast revenue, and prize money.
Tottenham, who won the Europa League last term, reportedly earned £26.5 million in prize money from their European campaign.
As Villa’s revenue is set to drop significantly next season, they may look for creative ways to balance their books and help stave off the threat of PSR.
Earlier this month, the Premier League failed in its bid to prevent clubs from selling assets to sister companies to comply with PSR.
A proposal to close the loophole that allowed Chelsea to register a “profit” from selling hotels and their women’s team to a sister company did not even go to a vote at the Premier League’s annual meeting.
Chelsea sold their women’s team to a sister company for a stated £200 million, and The Times reported that some clubs felt changing the rules now would be “closing the stable door after the horse had bolted.”
There was also concern that such a move could prevent clubs from earning revenue by selling assets such as property to unrelated parties.
However, UEFA does not accept the sale of assets to sister companies as income to help satisfy its squad cost ratio rules.
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