‘Unai Emery at risk of Aston Villa sack pressure as mass exodus looms’
Unai Emery could be set to end up with the finger pointed back at him as Aston Villa continue to suffer from a difficult summer transfer window.
Supporters at Villa Park were left extremely disappointed at the end of the 2024/25 campaign, with the final-day defeat to Man United destroying all hope of consecutive seasons in the Champions League.
This, of course, has had detrimental effects financially, with Dan Plumley telling Football Insider that to ensure they avoid further punishment from UEFA, Villa may have to sell multiple players this summer.
It has been outlined that the club will be banned from European competitions should their losses exceed £73.6million, and having lost £85.4m in the previous season, that is certainly a concern.
There is absolutely no doubt that the financial side is taking over Villa’s summer, with the only incoming deal going through over halfway through the transfer window being goalkeeper Marco Bizot from Brest.
Unai Emery suffering tough summer transfer window
Faithful fans were expecting huge changes from the manager after controversially missing out on Champions League football, and with the side now entering the Europa League it has become even harder to seal new and exciting transfers.
Football Insider understands that Villa are ready to sign Chelsea’s Nicolas Jackson, but much like the rest of their transfer links, there has been very little movement in terms of concrete bids and agreements.
Emery will already be feeling the pressure of a difficult summer transfer window in terms of signings, especially with such ambition at Villa Park, but it could get even worse for the Spaniard.
While PSR can be easily avoided by selling someone such as Jacob Ramsey, who is heavily linked with Nottingham Forest, for pure profit, avoiding the European ban is much more difficult due to having to reduce the Squad Cost Ratio (SCR).
Aston Villa mass exodus on the cards
Essentially, the Villans are spending too high a percentage of turnover on wages, and the only way that can be reduced is by lowering the average wage of the team or selling multiple players.
The rest of the Premier League are aware of this and will be looking to take advantage.
Keith Wyness told Football Insider that Morgan Rogers may need to be sold amid interest from Chelsea, with Ollie Watkins, Ezri Konsa, John McGinn, Amadou Onana, and Leon Bailey all being linked with various exits.
It may no longer be a decision; rather, Villa are forced into selling. And if this were to happen, ultimately, results would likely suffer at the start of next season, fans would become restless, and Emery would ultimately end up taking the blame.
As all good managers do, defeats and poor performances are on them, rather than making excuses or blaming the players. That is why Emery cannot afford to lose his biggest stars.
Mick Brown told Football Insider that Emery could quickly come under pressure at Villa if these events were to transpire, and with squad exit rumours only growing stronger, that idea may come to fruition next term, whether supporters like it or not.