Aston Villa owners accused of hiding behind PSR, ‘don’t want to spend’ amid mystery as opportunity squandered
Aston Villa’s owners have been criticised for their lack of summer spending and using profit and sustainability rules as an excuse for it following their poor start to the new season.
Aston Villa continued their impressive rise under Unai Emery in 2024-25 with a sixth-placed finish in the Premier League and forays to a Champions League quarter-final and FA Cup semi-final.
There was an expectation that they would go again in the summer with some big spending to push on again this term, despite some financial concerns as Aston Villa completed a last-minute sale of their women’s team to avoid breaching PSR rules.
Emery’s side was barely bolstered until the latter stages of the window, though, with Jadon Sancho and Harvey Elliott arriving on late loan deals to join Marco Bizot, Evann Guessand and Victor Lindelof as new summer signings.
Guessand was the only big-money move as he arrived from Nice for an initial £26.5m [BBC], and the Villans’ poor start to the new campaign has now been blamed on their owners lack of recent investment.
Richard Keys accuses Aston Villa owners of ‘hiding’ behind PSR following poor transfer window
Villa drew 0-0 at Everton on Saturday (13 September) to continue their woeful start to the new season which has seen them fail to win or even score a goal in their first four league games.
Richard Keys, who is a presenter and broadcaster for beIN SPORTS, blamed the club’s owners for their woes on his blog post from Monday (15 September), accusing them of using PSR as an excuse for their lack of spending and insisting that they have held back from making big signings on purpose.
He said: “In a year when PL clubs spent a record £3.29b in the window, Villa shelled out just £40m. They haven’t stood still – they’ve gone backwards and every single one of the teams they might see as rivals has streaked away from them.
“I don’t buy PSR excuses. They apply to every club, but seem not to affect their ambitions. Chelsea spend as they like. Newcastle weren’t shy in the last window. Nor were Forest (again), nor United (again). So why are Villa so publicly scared?
“I have no evidence to support this theory, but my feeling is the owners – Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris and American billionaire Wes Edens – don’t want to spend. They’re hiding behind PSR excuses. My gut tells me something else is going on, but I’ve no idea what. And I can’t think of a good reason why. But something feels wrong.
He went on to admit that he thinks Villa will now struggle this season after being so bright in years gone by, saying: “Villa were on the cusp of taking the next step. They were enjoying heady CL nights. Going toe-to-toe with the big boys. At one stage it looked as though they were about to join the elite clubs, but it’s all come crashing down.
“Just spend. Compete with the rest. If the PL come calling refer them to City’s lawyers. It’s Everton that will get any points deduction anyway. I’m being facetious of course, but I’m not far from the truth! It’s early days yet and Villa might get going, but after tipping them for a 5th placed finish I fear they’re in for a rough season.”
Aston Villa still have enough in their squad to turn it around this season
Villa fans must remember that it is still early days in the season and there is a long way to go for them to improve and mount yet another top six challenge in the Premier League, as well as to potentially impress in the Europa League too.
It’s not as if they don’t have the squad to do just that, with the core of last season’s impressive team still at the club after Jacob Ramsey was their only high-profile sale during the summer window.
Morgan Rogers garnered serious interest from Chelsea and Ollie Watkins was wanted by a number of teams in the top-flight, but they were able to keep hold of their key men and the rest of their squad ahead of the new season.
Their upcoming fixtures look more kind to them on paper than their first four, with a trip to Brentford in the EFL Cup followed by a league game at newly-promoted Sunderland, a Europa League tie at home to Bologna and then a league clash at Villa Park against Fulham.
Emery’s side need to impress in each of those outings to prove that they are up to the task this season, and they should be confident of bouncing back from their poor start with the likes of Elliott and Sancho still to come into the starting eleven and Youri Tielemans, Amadou Onana and Boubacar Kamara all to come back from injury.