Aston Villa's summer transfer window was a challenging one because of Premier League and UEFA financial rules
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery with Damian Vidagany and Monchi
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery with Damian Vidagany and Monchi
(Image: PA)
A challenging summer transfer window drew to a close late on Monday night, with two deal sheets required to finalise business.
Moves for Jadon Sancho and Harvey Elliott were completed after Victor Lindelöf arrived on a free transfer earlier in the day.
Elliott joins Villa on an initial season-long loan deal with an obligation to buy for £35 million conditional on appearances, while Sancho arrives on a straight loan, with Manchester United covering 20 percent of his wages.
Marco Bizot and Evann Guessand were the first two first-team signings in July, as Villa operated under severe restrictions due to Premier League and UEFA financial regulations.
Those restrictions remained in place even after the club sold homegrown talent Jacob Ramsey to Newcastle United for £39 million plus add-ons. Days later, Leon Bailey departed on loan to AS Roma.
UEFA’s regulations were particularly prohibitive throughout the summer, despite Villa satisfying PSR (Profit and Sustainability Rules) by selling their women’s team at the end of June.
Sources told BirminghamLive on the night of June 30 that there were no celebrations at Bodymoor Heath, despite meeting the Premier League’s financial requirements.
Indeed, a difficult summer was only just beginning.
Villa’s director of football operations, Damian Vidagany, had warned supporters back in May - during the club’s awards night - that challenging months lay ahead.
“It will be a challenging summer, like the last one, with PSR and the financial rules,” Vidagany said. “It is going to be a hard summer, but at the end of it we will deliver a good football team with committed footballers and hard workers.”
The extent of those financial challenges remained evident right up until deadline day.
Villa explored a deal for William Osula from Newcastle United, but it was deemed unviable under UEFA’s financial testing rules.
Because Villa had just sold Ramsey to Newcastle and were now looking to bring in Osula from the same club, UEFA viewed the potential transaction as undermining the profit recorded from Ramsey’s sale.
In July, the club was fined €5 million for failing to comply with football earnings rules, and a further €6 million for breaching squad cost rules (SCR). The football earnings period covers the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons, while the SCR assessment applies to the 2024 calendar year.
Villa must now meet a series of financial targets, including a final benchmark set by UEFA that requires full compliance with football earnings rules by 2028. These rules allow for a maximum loss of €60 million over a rolling three-year period.
UEFA explained: “In assessing a club’s compliance with the football earnings rule, the CFCB placed particular attention on transactions involving the sale of tangible or intangible assets, the exchange of players (so-called 'swaps'), and transfers of players between related parties. Clubs are required to perform adjustments, as profits from such transactions cannot be recognised as relevant income.”
Osula was later linked with a move to Eintracht Frankfurt on Monday, but no deal materialised, and Newcastle opted to retain the young striker. Newcastle had already strengthened their forward line with Nick Woltemade and Yoane Wissa following the £125 million sale of Alexander Isak.
Villa, meanwhile, succeeded in retaining their prized assets, only parting with Ramsey. That had been the club’s objective from the outset, and they even secured Boubacar Kamara on a new contract - a significant move, considering he had entered the final two years of his previous deal.
A few hours after the deadline passed on Monday, Vidagany shared his thoughts on the window in a post on X.
“Market finished. We gave all what we had. Unai, Monchi, owners, staff…No holidays, no rest. I said in May's awards dinner - before Morgan’s disallowed UCL goal - it was going to be very challenging. But *… hell!
“I respect every opinion of anyone that loves this football club. We must do better for sure. But let me explain: genuine expectations are now in a difficult place. In modern football the key to compete well on the market are not only good virtues like your calibre, owners, wishes, ability or results…the main key are the REVENUES. Period.
“To avoid the financial control cost cut you need revenues. If not, then comes the frustration as the feeling of the fan is that “as much as we win on the pitch as weaker or shy or slow we are in the market”… the clubs with revenues and no results they spend fast and spend stronger to wipe us from top, as it is normal.
“And to get revenues and break the evil circle we need UNAI, owners engaged, success, time and good players and good business people like Francesco Calvo! But mainly we need togetherness and unity. UTV I love our Villa staff!!!”
Earlier in the summer, Villa saw the departures of loanees Marcus Rashford, Marco Asensio, and Axel Disasi. However, by the end of the window, Unai Emery had the depth he had hoped for - similar to what he enjoyed in the second half of last season.
Villa now have two players per position - though some areas are stronger than others. This squad balance was a key objective, alongside keeping core players at the club.
The success of the window will be judged in the coming weeks and months. However, the situation surrounding Emi Martínez remains a concern.
Martínez now has no option but to focus on the season ahead, despite it being widely known that he had hoped to join Manchester United.
As reported throughout the summer, Martínez was open to starting a new chapter. At 33, he knows he is in the prime of his career, despite already achieving the ultimate prize: winning the World Cup.
United submitted only a loan offer for Martínez, and no formal bid followed - even in the final 48 hours of the window - as they instead progressed with a move for Senne Lammens.
Martínez will now link up with Argentina for the September internationals before returning to Bodymoor Heath to prepare for Villa’s match against Everton at the Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday, September 13.
He was left out of the squad for Sunday’s match against Crystal Palace, with Emery feeling the goalkeeper was not in the right headspace to feature.
Martínez’s departure may have been best for all parties before the deadline. But now, with the summer saga behind him, the focus must shift to what could be his final campaign in claret and blue.
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