A lot of the transfers have been on credit terms… Champions League qualification would have helped the club deal with the cash requirements in respect of some of these former player purchases.
Villa were probably the club in greatest need of qualify for the Champions League next season because they have made the second highest losses in Premier League history (£678m) – only exceeded by Chelsea (£1.257bn).
While Villa will have earned record revenues in 2024-25 (after revenue of £276m in 2023-24), they are still substantially behind the ‘Big Six’ – Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea – the clubs their owners want to challenge for Champions League places on a regular basis.
Since being promoted to the Premier League in 2019, Villa – under new owners Wes Edens and Nas Sawiris – have been one of the bigger spenders in terms of transfer fees – investing more than £868m on players. The owners have backed a series of managers – Steve Bruce, Dean Smith, Steven Gerrard and Unai Emery – but at a significant cost.
The good news for Villa fans is the funding for the transfers has come from the owners’ pockets in the form of shares, instead of borrowing and incurring interest costs.
A lot of the transfers have been on credit terms which, while not unusual in the Premier League, means Villa owe more than £150m in previous purchases. Champions League qualification would have helped the club deal with the cash requirements in respect of some of these former player purchases.
Villa have only managed to break even once in the past 15 years, and that was solely because of the sale of Jack Grealish. Former owners Randy Lerner and Tony Xia both walked away from the club having lost over £100m.