Kieran Maguire: Jack Grealish cited in ‘dangerous’ £87m Aston Villa claim
Aston Villa recording profits in their latest report should be viewed with caution due to the sale of Jack Grealish to Man City.
That is the view of finance expert Kieran Maguire, who spoke to Football Insider about the “dangerous pattern” of losses at Villa Park.
In their latest financial report, Aston Villa reported pre-tax profits of £421,000, with a turnover of £178million.
However, the profit figures are boosted by the club’s sale of Grealish, who joined Premier League champions Man City for £100million in the biggest deal in British football history.
Villa did invest heavily in new players under owners Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris, with the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Diego Carlos arriving for large fees in the summer.
Maguire insists Villa are reliant on Edens and Sawiris to pay the club’s losses, with the club not able to replicate the profit from Grealish’s sale every season.
“We have to be very cautious when looking at Aston Villa’s financial results and their profit before tax figure,” Maguire told Football Insider’s Sean Fisher.
“The reason is that Aston Villa are not going to sell a Jack Grealish every year.
“If we take a look at their core profits, Villa made a loss of £86.5million.
“That is a dangerous pattern repeated on a regular basis – it was £84million in 2019, £102million in 2020 and £42million in 2021.
“In order to offset those losses, they are reliant on player sales such as Grealish or they hope that the owners are prepared to underwrite the losses.
“To give both Edens and Sawiris credit, that is something they are prepared to do.“
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