Aston Villa head coach Unai Emery has suggested that his team have little chance of finishing inside the top seven of the Premier League table.
Last season, the West Midlands outfit reached the Champions League quarter-finals and only missed out on a second successive campaign in the competition courtesy of a controversial decision that led to defeat to Manchester United on the final day of 2024-25.
Since then, complying with the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability regulations has been a priority, subsequently affecting the club's activity in the transfer market.
As it stands, only Nice attacker Evann Guessand has been signed to improve the starting XI, essentially becoming a replacement for Jacob Ramsey who will join Newcastle United.
While Villa will be making a substantial profit from those transactions and Emery will add to his squad, Villa have faced a frequent battle to balance the books over the past 18 months.
Aston Villa manager Unai Emery on April 12, 2025
Emery dismisses Villa's Premier League expectations
Speaking at a pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday's fixture with Newcastle, Emery has claimed that Villa's squad has regressed to a similar point as when he arrived at the back end of 2022.
The Spaniard said: "We are starting more or less like when I arrived here. We are not a contender to be in the top seven for this reason."
"Of course we have the capacity to build a strong team, but not with the same budget [as the big clubs]. We have to be competitive with our players and keep working hard as well as staying motivated.
"We are going to start tomorrow and there 38 matches in the Premier League but we are not contenders to be in the top seven."
Unai Emery during his side's clash against Celtic on January 29, 2025
Is Emery right to play down Villa hopes?
Emery's comments are likely to stem from having fewer options in his squad than when Villa concluded the 2024-25 campaign.
There is seemingly a squad of 22 first-team players, numbers that will only increase when Europa League football is on the calendar for this season.
Club officials will hope that Emery is able to bring at least one more academy player into the group and provide him with game time in the cup competitions.
That is proving to be a valuable route for generating funds in order to ensure that Villa comply with the relevant accounting rules.
Nevertheless, Emery will want at least three more senior players before the September 1, there also likely to be movement the other way at the same time.
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