Finance guru: ‘You’ll see some damage’ in soon-to-released Aston Villa accounts after £295m reveal
Aston Villa have seen out the worst of the pandemic but are “not out of the woods yet”.
That is the view of finance expert Doctor Dan Plumley, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about Villa’s financial resilience over the last two years.
Villa spent £25million on Lucas Digne in January, while Philippe Coutinho joined on loan with an option to buy for £33.7m.
Football business analysts Deloitte released figures on 1 February which showed Premier League clubs had spent £295m on new signings in total.
Deloitte hypothesised that the data indicates that “the financial pressures of COVID on Premier League clubs are easing”.
Villa posted losses of £99.2m for the last financial year and are expected to reveal another sizable shortfall when their next accounts are released soon.
And Plumley explains that Villa and the rest of the Premier League are not yet in the clear from the pandemic’s financial fallout.
“I think the clubs will feel like it’s eased a little bit,” the Sheffield Hallam University expert told Football Insider‘s Adam Williams.
“Fans are back in stadiums now and things are beginning to stick in that regard. But I don’t think Villa and many clubs are out of the woods fully yet.
“The 2020-21 accounts will soon be out. There is probably some damage you’ll see in those reports.
“In the following set of accounts for 2021-22, we’ll expect to see an uplift.
“But more widely, most of the January transfer spending came from the bottom five teams.
“I thought Villa had a very good window and they aren’t one of the clubs that are really looking over their shoulder.
“But in fear of relegation, teams often feel like they have to spend in January to get their way out of it.
“It shows the power of the Premier League, coming out of the pandemic and still being a market leader.”
Coutinho scored Villa’s opener and laid on two assists in the 3-3 draw with Leeds United last night (9 February).
This site revealed today (10 February) that Villa boss Steven Gerrard will not hesitate to tell the board to make the Brazilian’s switch permanent.
In other news, Alan Hutton reveals the “one problem” with Aston Villa striker Keinan Davis after Alan Shearer claim.