Aston Villa 'concerned' by '£15m' blow - Stefan Borson

Aston Villa's lack of front-of-shirt sponsor is becoming increasingly worrying for the Europa League champions.

That is according to former Manchester City financial adviser Stefan Borson, who exclusively told Football Insider that Villa are losing out on £15million-a-year without a deal.

Due to the Premier League's new restrictions over gambling sponsorships, the Villans have brought an end to their deal with Betano, who are now Tottenham Hotspur's training kit sponsor.

With just weeks until the 2026-27 campaign kicks off, Unai's side are still searching for a front-of-shirt deal, which should have been sorted halfway through last term.

Multiple Premier League clubs are struggling with the same issue, including Chelsea and Nottingham Forest, while Newcastle United have just agreed a deal.

Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens remain under pressure at Villa Park, and the lack of a major deal will only crank the heat up further this summer.

Aston Villa desperate for a front-of-shirt sponsor

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, Borson explained when Villa should have agreed a deal, and suggested that the owners will be worried.

"It's £15million, at least £15m that they just haven't got to play with. So, they'll be concerned. But they've known this was coming," he said.

"A lack of sponsor doesn't turn up in June. It's not, 'Oh, surprise, surprise, we haven't got a sponsor'.

"The process of getting a replacement front of shirt sponsor and a principal partner for a club is ongoing throughout the year.

"But ordinarily, you'd want to be signing it up the autumn before. So you'd want to be signing it in kind of October, November, latest of the prior season.

"So you can start to get everything ready for the kit printing that goes on, so that it's all ready for the new kit, for the preparation, for the stadium, for all the inventory that they buy around the stadium."

Unai Emery's concerns only get worse

Villa losing £15m from a lack of a sponsorship deal will be the worst of Emery's worries right now, especially due to matters on the pitch.

Morgan Rogers could very much move to Arsenal this summer, with Ezri Konsa, John McGinn, Emi Martinez and Ollie Watkins all linked with exits.

And now, Amadou Onana is set to be sidelined for up to eight months with an ACL injury sustained during Belgium's win over USA at the 2026 World Cup.

A new midfielder was not on the radar for the Villans this summer, but Emery and his staff might be forced to go into the market for more than they bargained for.