"Where is the sense?" - What Aston Villa really think about PSR as women's team sale explored
Damian Vidagany, Unai Emery and Monchi
Damian Vidagany, Unai Emery and Monchi(Image: Getty Images)
"To get revenue, what do you need? To win. What do you need to win? To spend. But you cannot spend. So if you don’t spend, you don’t win, you don’t get revenue and you stay in the same cycle always."
Damian Vidagany hit the nail on the head last year. The Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules are no longer fit for purpose, haven’t caught up with inflation for over a decade, and simply hold ambitious clubs back.
Under V Sports, Villa climbed out of the Championship and returned to European football within five years, reaching a semi-final of the Conference League last May and then qualifying for the Champions League weeks later.
Unai Emery's side defied expectations once again last season by reaching the last eight of the Champions League and even had eventual champions Paris Saint-Germain on the ropes in the second leg at Villa Park, which they won 3-2.
A one-goal aggregate defeat meant Villa's European journey was over for that season, but they will be back next year competing for Europa League glory after finishing sixth in the Premier League.
The controversial 2-0 defeat at Old Trafford on the final day of the season denied Villa a return to the Champions League, which would have been a remarkable feat considering the hurdles put in their way over the past couple of years.
Douglas Luiz, Jhon Durán, and Moussa Diaby have all been sold in the last 12 months, generating around £157m.
Yet, Villa continue to grow on and off the pitch. Nassef Sawiris has come good on his promise to restore Villa's place at the top table of European football, but he and the club's officials have been incredibly frustrated by the Premier League's financial rules, which continue to hold the club back.
Last June, in an interview with the Financial Times, Sawiris claimed he was seeking advice over the prospect of taking legal action against the Premier League for their rules.
He said: "Some of the rules have actually resulted in cementing the status quo more than creating upward mobility and fluidity in the sport.
"The rules do not make sense and are not good for football. Managing a sports team has become more like being a treasurer or a bean counter rather than looking at what your team needs.
"It's more about creating paper profits, not real profits. It becomes a financial game, not a sporting game."
The overall aims of the league's financial rules are to "improve and preserve clubs’ financial sustainability and the competitive balance of the Premier League, promote aspiration of clubs, facilitate a workable alignment with other relevant competitions and support clubs’ competitiveness in UEFA club competitions, while providing certainty and clarity for clubs, fans and stakeholders."
Villa will question a few points raised by the Premier League, especially their claim that the rules "promote aspiration" of clubs as they and Newcastle have essentially been forced to sell players after reaching the top six.
Last year, Premier League club debt levels were approximately £3.6bn combined, according to Kieran Maguire, yet Villa contributed zero to that figure - being only one of three clubs out of debt.
According to Maguire, Tottenham and Manchester United accumulated the most debt in the league, while Arsenal and Liverpool made up the rest of the top six.
“We have no debt," Vidagany explained last year. "We are a club that is balanced with committed owners. We don’t owe money to anyone, but clubs with more revenue but huge debts can spend much more than us. Where is the sense in that?
"Many clubs borrow money. We don’t have this problem, but we still can’t spend. The system is perversion because it doesn’t matter how committed your owners are, how wealthy they are or how good your accounts are. You are not allowed to grow because you don’t have more revenues."
After failing to qualify for the Champions League for a second year in a row, Villa are considering selling at least part of their women’s team to boost revenue.
Chelsea sold their women’s team to a sister company for around £198.7m, but the Premier League has yet to confirm their transaction represents "fair market value".
When news of Chelsea's sale first broke, it was met with public outrage. If Villa were to do the same, a portion of football fans may also watch on in disapproval - but look deeper and the problem is evident.
The Premier League's financial rules do not encourage competition at the top of the table or clubs break up the 'big six', even though the likes of Villa and Newcastle have now consistently done so.
Manchester United and Tottenham have endured their worst league campaigns for some time, but due to the 'big six's' vastly greater revenue streams compared to the other 14 clubs in the league, they needn’t worry about what the future holds - or even the following season.
United are splashing cash as if they've earned the right to do so, and Tottenham are financially set for years to come after Daniel Levy cleverly positioned them to maximise their potential in the world of PSR.
Villa, meanwhile - who have to spend to improve - appear to be punished each summer for threatening clubs which literally packed up and confirmed their intent to form a breakaway Super League a few years ago.