Aston Villa to bring in 'forensic accountants' to avoid suspension - Keith Wyness
Aston Villa are "moving in the right direction" when it comes to UEFA's financial restrictions, but are not doing so quickly enough at the moment.
That is according to former Villa CEO Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that his former club are still walking a "very dangerous tightrope" when it comes to their financial situation.
This comes after the Villans were fined another £19.4million by UEFA for a significant breach of their squad cost ruling back in 2025.
£12.9m of that fine is currently suspended, but Wyness is adamant that the club are not doing enough to avoid that sum coming into play when 2026's final ruling is calculated.
Villa were among a number of Premier League sides sanctioned by UEFA in their latest round of fines, but Chelsea, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest all received far smaller punishments.
Unai Emery and Co. are currently planning for their return to Champions League football, but are still having to be extremely careful with their spending.
Aston Villa to appoint 'forensic accountants'
Villa's former chief Wyness - who served as CEO at Villa Park between 2016 and 2018 and now runs a consultancy business advising elite clubs - believes that his former club will appoint "forensic accountants" to help find further ways of cutting their costs.
He believes that the second city outfit have chosen to walk the "tightrope" that they are currently treading, by working to try and challenge the established elite of the Premier League.
Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, he explained how Villa simply aren't moving the needle fast enough to avoid their suspended fine.
"Villa have been going in the right direction and that's why they've suspended so much of that fine. But Villa, again, have got to be very careful," the Scottish businessman said.
"They've now got experience in this area and they know how tricky it is to balance it and keep the quality of that squad up and have the depth of squad for Europe.
"They're walking a very dangerous tightrope. Villa are moving down towards the right ratios, but not fast enough. And that's their problem.
"Villa will be having to bring in forensic accountants to really handle this and understand what's coming and think two seasons ahead in terms of the way they handle their player transactions.
"Villa are moving in the right direction, but they're always going to be on that tightrope. And that's just where they've decided they want to be. They've got to be pushing the envelope as best they can."
Unai Emery tipped to join Real Madrid after leaving Aston Villa
Former Villa scout Bryan King told Football Insider last week that he expects Emery to be in the frame to manage Real Madrid whenever he ultimately leaves Villa Park.
The Spanish boss has little intention of changing clubs anytime soon, but there is a growing suspicion that the financial restrictions are beginning to wear on him.
King pointed towards Jose Mourinho's new two-year contract at Real Madrid, and noted that Emery would certainly be a potential candidate to replace him when his time is up.
The former Arsenal boss has built a growing reputation for himself at Villa, and is vastly experienced at the top level of European football.