Kieran Maguire: Aston Villa on track for ‘£30m’ payout – ‘it would add rocket boosters’
Champions League qualification would add ‘rocket boosters’ to the finances at Aston Villa.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke exclusively to Football Insider about the financial impact that Champions League qualification would have at Villa Park.
Unai Emery’s side climbed up to third in the Premier League table this week after a 1-0 win over last season’s champions Manchester City.
Villa now find themselves five points clear of fifth-placed Tottenham as we approach the halfway point of the 2023/24 season.
Finishing inside the top five may be enough to qualify for next season’s Champions League with England in the running to be handed a fifth qualification spot.
As revealed by Football Insider, Villa would earn over £30million if they can qualify for the Champions League in 2024/25.
Maguire believes Villa’s progress this season will incentivise the club’s owners to continue their long-term plans at Villa Park.
“Champions League qualification for Villa would add rocket boosters to their already impressive upwards trajectory,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“Qualifying for the Champions League is probably worth a minimum of £30million.
“The fact that we’ve got the Swiss model starting next year means that there would be at least one extra home match at Villa Park.
“There’s probably at least a 50 percent chance of two further home games because the clubs ranked 9th to 24th have a playoff to get to the knockout stages.
“So it would be very lucrative for Villa in multiple ways.
“I think the new owners, who have hardly put a foot wrong since they entered Villa Park, will see this as an incentive to continue their plan in terms of expanding the stadium and trying to expand the brand.
“Birmingham is a big city and I’ll be careful what I say here but Villa are the most well-known club in the city.
“There’s a big chance for the club to leverage on the back of that.“
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