Aston Villa: Emery risked ’10-point’ PSR ‘deduction’ by using Sir Alex-like ‘power’ to block £50m sale

Aston Villa chief Damian Vidagany has revealed that the Premier League club came close to being docked points in the summer for breaching PSR rules.

Ahead of the summer transfer window, it was widely reported that Aston Villa were one of the Premier League clubs at risk of breaching Profit and Sustainability rules for the 2023/24 campaign.

Everton and Nottingham Forest were docked points last season, while Aston Villa are one of six teams who had to ‘sell’ to ‘avoid a breach’.

The deadline for Premier League clubs to submit their accounts for the 2023/24 season was June 30 and Aston Villa avoided a points deduction by selling Douglas Luiz to Serie A giants Juventus for around £42m.

Luiz was one of Villa’s shining lights last season as he grabbed nine goals and five assists in the Premier League but he was let go as part of a cash-plus-player swap deal, which saw Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea move in the opposite direction.

Vidagany – Villa’s director of football operations – has revealed that the club faced a “very challenging” few days as they were aware that a points deduction “would have spoiled a wonderful season”.

“We found ourselves in a situation where we had make an important profit to avoid being in breach with the PSR (profit and sustainability rules),” Damian Vidagany said.

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“It was very challenging. Everybody was cheering and celebrating the Champions League, but Monchi (Villa’s transfer chief) and I were at the party thinking how we could avoid a points deduction that would have spoiled a wonderful season. There was a bomb with the countdown, and we were there to cut the cable. We arrived at the last second with this problem.

“From May 20 until June 30 is normally the holiday period for everyone in football, but for us, it was a very difficult moment.

“It’s not just about selling players who will ensure you make a profit. At the same time, you have to sell the players that (manager) Unai Emery believes are not crucial for the team.”

Villa eventually opted to cash in on Luiz but they had the opportunity to offload a couple of alternatives.

Earlier this year, Jacob Ramsey was linked with a £50m move to Newcastle United but this did not come to fruition.

A report from The Daily Mail reveals Aston Villa were ‘hours away from being a 10-point deduction’, but head coach Unai Emery blocked the club from letting Ramsey leave.

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Vidagany added: “We had a lot of offers for Jacob Ramsey. But he is a player Unai wants and we were against this solution.”

VIla’s President of football relations Monchi revealed: “If we sold Ramsey, it would be solved. And we could have because we had offers.

“Another solution was to put Ollie Watkins on the market. We could have sold the best keeper in the world, Emi Martinez. We also had offers for him.”

Regarding Emery’s prominent role at Aston Villa, the report reveals.

‘Villa’s two decision-makers were never going to over-ride the most important man at the club. Emery has taken Villa from a relegation battle to the Champions League in less than two years and wields the sort of power Sir Alex Ferguson had at Manchester United.’