Aston Villa became ‘really high-level Premier League’ side from nowhere after transfer policy shift
We’re delighted to welcome Sky Sports journalist Dan Bardell as our exclusive Aston Villa columnist each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the club…
Aston Villa are acting as “modern-day successful football clubs operate” following their mass exodus of high-value youth stars, according to Dan Bardell.
This summer, Villa sold a swathe of young talent including Cameron Archer, Jaden Philogene, Aaron Ramsey and Keinan Davis for a combined £39million, with many of these players having a buy-back clause in their deals.
With the club growing in stature following their impressive summer transfer window, their qualification for European football and having the elite-level Unai Emery at the helm, the perception of Villa as a club has shifted significantly since their promotion back to the Premier League in 2019.
Where Villa had once been “behind the curve”, Bardell now maintains they are now acting as big clubs do and emulating other Premier League sides, including Manchester City and Chelsea, in their transfer business. Offloading high-value assets to balance the books to make room for first-team-ready signings and including buy-back options for departed stars reflects the “refreshing” policy shift that could solidify the Villans as a top Premier League side.
Speaking exclusively to Villa News, Bardell said: “Manchester City have done this really well over the last two or three years and Chelsea have probably done it with more established youth products.
“That’s why Chelsea and City can spend lots of money, this is a massive part of it. But I think Archer ultimately wasn’t going to be a starter, he might have played the odd European game. It’s helpful because of FFP, you can sell a player and make a pure profit on them.
“It is the way that modern-day successful football clubs operate, so I’m all for Villa doing it. I think it’s really refreshing to see Villa operating in this manner because I’ve always felt Villa has been behind the curve in a lot of things.
“But they’ve now become a really high-level Premier League football club, kind of from nowhere. There was a lot of good and clever stuff going on behind the scenes before Emery joined, but obviously, the football wasn’t there.
“Villa are operating how I would expect to see a club that has the ambitions that Villa have. It’s really refreshing.”
In other Aston Villa news, an injury expert has revealed what Jacob Ramsey may have to do before returning to full fitness.