Stefan Borson
Tue 11 March 2025 12:33, UK
Aston Villa are currently on course for a bumper season financially following their impressive performances in the Champions League.
Unai Emery’s side, who currently sit eighth in the Premier League table, qualified automatically for the last 16 of the Champions League after finishing eighth in the revamped league phase of the competition.
They are on course to book their place in the quarter-finals after recording a 3-1 victory over Club Brugge in the first leg of their last-16 tie, with the second leg taking place at Villa Park on Wednesday (12 March).
Speaking to Sportico on 4 March, Villa’s president of business operations Chris Heck said he expects the club’s revenue to reach between £360-370million for the 2024-25 campaign.
Finance expert Stefan Borson exclusively told Football Insider the West Midlands giants are at risk of losing a “huge” chunk of that revenue if they fail to qualify for the Champions League again this season.
Borson previously told Football Insider Villa are facing an “enormous” problem after their wage bill increased significantly last season following their qualification for the Champions League.
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A new Uefa report revealed the club’s turnover surged from £218million to a record figure of £270million in 2023-24, but their wage bill rose from £194million to £245million.
Unai Emery Aston Villa
Aston Villa face wage bill hit after Champions League bonuses
Borson revealed Villa’s wage bill is likely to increase again this season due to Champions League bonuses in their players’ contracts.
He told Football Insider: “The anticipated revenue is not a surprise.
“It’s been portrayed as being some kind of transformational growth, but it isn’t. The reason that it isn’t is because they probably did for last season somewhere in the order of £270million.
“We don’t have the exact number yet because we’ve only got the Deloitte report and the Uefa report that’s very slightly different.
“But let’s say it’s £270million for the sake of discussion, so what he’s really saying is the expectation at the moment is they’re going to add between £90-100million to last year’s numbers.
“We know that they’re probably going to finish lower down in the table than last season at the moment. They are eighth and they’ve played a game more, so the chances are they’re going to lose maybe £5-10million on merit payments from the Premier League.
“But they’re going to win big from the Champions League. We know that they’re almost certainly through now to the quarters, so all in, including gate receipts, they’re going to do £90-100million. They have got last year’s numbers as a base.
“You have got some price increases in the stadium, some revenue that’s coming in addition, some new projects that they’ve got and a new deal with Adidas in this current season. Then on top of that, you’ve got all the Champions League revenue.
“The problem is that’s great for this season, but there are two factors that are important. One, the costs this season are much higher so there is more player amortisation because they’ve made more signings and probably higher player wages, particularly with bonuses and any uplifts for Champions League.
“On the flip side, if they do not qualify for the Champions League next season, a huge chunk of that revenue that we’re talking about is just going to disappear because they’re not going to be in the Champions League.
“You have almost got to split the underlying performance of the business and then layer on top of it the Champions League piece and see whether they can hold next season somewhere approaching this £360-370million they’re trying to get to if they’re not in the Champions League.”
Games Played 9
Wins 6
Draws 1
Losses 2
Aston Villa in the Champions League this season
Aston Villa have purposely breached the financial rules
Borson previously told Football Insider Villa purposely breached the financial rules in their bid to qualify for the Champions League last season.
Emery’s side are expected to have breached Uefa’s squad cost ratio (SCR) rules for the 2024 calendar year.
Clubs in European competitions were required to keep spending on player wages and fees to 80 per cent of revenue last year, with Villa’s spending exceeding that figure.
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