Aston Villa are reportedly considering the option of selling the club’s women’s team in order to ensure we remain compliant with PSR.
It has been a major talking point for some time now as we head towards the June 30 deadline, with Villa widely reported to be at risk of a sanction given our current financial position in relation to the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules.
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While much of the talk has been around potential player sales in order to reduce our losses over the last three-year period to ensure it’s within the acceptable parameters of £105m, there has been hope that we can avoid that scenario, keep the core of the squad intact and find an alternative solution.
According to The Athletic, that could now come in the form of selling Villa’s women’s team as the option is said to be under consideration, but it remains to be seen how the structure of any deal would work in terms of who would be buying the team, whether or not it would be enough in itself to avoid breaching PSR and further if we’d be in a significantly stronger financial position as a result for upcoming financial cycles, and the timing of such a sale could be crucial.
Further, given UEFA’s regulations don’t allow for clubs to offset losses through this type of sale, it’s unclear at this stage whether or not we risk being fined by the European governing body and any other potential repercussions of such a strategy.
What is clear from a domestic perspective though is that the loophole in relation to selling assets to sister companies to comply with PSR wasn’t closed earlier this month after the proposal didn’t even go to a vote, and so Villa have the right to explore this option.
Nevertheless, our owners alongside the management team will have undoubtedly gone through the details meticulously to understand what the knock-on effects might be, both positive and negative, and if it’s felt as though it’s the best decision for the club moving forward, then hopefully we’ll hear something imminently to put those PSR-related concerns to bed for now.
As noted by club officials over the past year or so, the regulations are undoubtedly flawed in many ways and limit our ability to progress and become more competitive. It has resulted in forcing us to sell top young talent and key individuals who we would rather have kept to continue to build with them.
In turn, if this potential move to sell the women’s team doesn’t breach any rules and comes with no further risks of sanctions but will provide a solution that the club are comfortable with and believe it’s the most beneficial route to take, then it’s hoped that Villa press ahead and get the sale completed sooner rather than later.
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