Exclusive: Aston Villa at risk in pre-June 30 transfer merry-go-round update
Aston Villa are the most at-risk Premier League club of receiving a PSR-related sanction this summer.
That is according to football finance expert Dan Plumley, who told Football Insider exclusively that he does not expect the profit and sustainability rules (PSR) to dictate the summer transfer window as much as they did in 2024.
Everton and Nottingham Forest both received points deductions from the Premier League after failing to comply with the league’s financial rules.
This was a rude wake-up call for many teams, and it spurred clubs into action last summer as they looked to sell players for profit to balance their losses.
That action took the form of a group of at-risk clubs selling to each other. Elliot Anderson joined Forest, Odysseas Vlachodimos went the other way to Newcastle, Ian Maatsen joined Villa, and Omari Kellyman switched Villa Park for Stamford Bridge.
But after the mad dash to balance the books ahead of the Premier League’s financial year-end on June 30 last year, there is expected to be less action this summer as clubs have generally been better with their finances, or in Chelsea’s case, found workarounds such as selling their women’s team to themselves.
Aston Villa still at risk of failing PSR
Speaking exclusively to Football Insider, finance expert Plumley explained that whilst he did not expect the same late scramble as seen in 2024, there were still a few clubs who would be looking at doing business before the 30 June deadline.
Headlining those is Villa who are in a particularly precarious situation, having made losses of £205.8m [The Athletic] between 2022 and 2024, and will not have Champions League revenue to bolster their finances after losing against Man United on the final day of the season.
Plumley said: “I don’t think we’ll see as much this year. I think last year was really crucial for a number of clubs, and we saw that movement, didn’t we?
“Principally Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Newcastle, were the main protagonists, and it was really critical for some of those clubs at that point.
“Of course, things have shifted on, we’re a year down the track and it’s another three-year window that we’re looking at.
“I don’t think we’ll see as much movement, but the one big one that we think is still at risk is Aston Villa.
“I think that’s pretty clear, and we understand that they’re in a settlement agreement with UEFA as well, so they’re on UEFA’s radar.
“That was the one question mark we had, Newcastle is a minor question mark still, but I think they’ll probably be alright.
“Chelsea, obviously, no issues now because of what they’ve done with the sale of the women’s team, and Everton are in a different spot as well.
“I think it probably comes down to Villa. We can’t see all the details from the outside looking in, but with Villa, there’s definitely still a question mark.
“But I don’t think we’ll see as much of that kind of merry-go-round movement between clubs like we saw last year, but we might see one or two of these clubs shift a couple of players on still before that deadline.”
Aston Villa looking to sell women’s team ahead of 30 June deadline
An alternative solution to making a quick, and perhaps financially unfavourable sale, is for Villa to sell their women’s team to themselves, or to external investors.
However, Plumley told Football Insider previously that the Villains would likely need some form of outside investment to “drive up the evaluation” of the team.
Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit and husband of the retired tennis superstar Serena Williams, invested £20m [BBC Sport] into Chelsea‘s women’s team before it was sold to BlueCo, the group that owns the club as a whole.
The Athletic reported on 25 June that Villa were exploring the option of selling their women’s team to avoid a PSR sanction from the Premier League.