Kieran Maguire: Aston Villa could match Chelsea plan after £100m+ development
Aston Villa could utilise amortisation to spread the cost of summer signings after announcing losses of £120million this week.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who exclusively told Football Insider that Villa can sign players to long-term contracts to avoid breaching financial rules.
Villa announced their end-of-year accounts on Monday (4 March) revealing an overall loss of £119.6million after tax in 2022-23.
Premier League financial rules state that top-flight clubs cannot exceed losses of £105million over a three-year period.
As reported by The Times, several top-flight clubs are “terrified” of spending this summer amid fears they could breach financial rules.
Aston Villa could amortise summer deals to avoid financial breach
However, Maguire believes Villa can still be active in the transfer market if they sign players to longer-term contracts as seen at Chelsea under Todd Boehly.
The Blues signed multiple players to eight-year contracts following Boehly’s takeover before the Premier League changed rules to maximise amortisation to five years.
“Aston Villa have suffered sizeable losses but I don’t think they will be terrified of spending,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“If they do sign players in the summer they could sign them to five-year contracts so that amoritsation smooths out that cost.
“Player trading means that people will also be heading out the door as well as coming in.
“What they won’t be able to do is spend and spend and end up with a bloated squad because that’s just daft from a business point of view.
“Having too many players can cause a bad environment and resentment within the squad anyway.
“So I don’t think they’ll be terrified I think they’ll just accept this as a challenge.“
In other news, Ex-CEO suggests Aston Villa are gearing up for summer firesale
For more Aston Villa and exclusive news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.