Aston Villa news: Keith Wyness ‘really surprised’ by £500m development
Aston Villa’s former chief Keith Wyness has insisted he was “really surprised” to see the club vote against introducing new spending rules.
Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Villa Park between 2016 and 2018 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs –claimed he expected every American owner in the Premier League to vote through the proposals and ensure “certainty in costs” as with leagues like the NFL and NBA.
On Monday (29 April), Premier League clubs voted in favour of developing plans to introduce a spending cap – which will reportedly be set at around £500million per season for transfer fees, agent fees and wages.
Only Aston Villa, Man City and Man United voted against the plans, with American-owned Chelsea abstaining.
Villa are part-owned by American businessman Wes Edens, making them one of nine US-owned clubs in the Premier League.
Wyness shocked by latest Aston Villa development
Wyness suggested he was shocked to see the Midlands giants shun a move to a NFL-style cap system.
He told Football Insider‘s Insider Track podcast: “This is something I was really surprised about.
“When NFL owners put in the wage cap, the value of the franchises went through the roof.
“That’s because they had certainty on costs every year.
“I expected all the American owners at Villa, Liverpool, Arsenal and others to vote for it.
“I was surprised when that didn’t happen with Wes Edens.
“In the weeks ahead, we’re going to see a lot of debate about the thinking behind this.
“I did think this change would’ve been popular with the American owners, but it hasn’t been in Villa’s case.”
In other news, Aston Villa hit by new Uefa transfer blow.
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