Aston Villa between ‘rock and a hard place’ as Jacob Ramsey stance on Liverpool transfer emerges
Aston Villa are caught “between a rock and a hard place” after Jacob Ramsey’s stance on a summer transfer to Liverpool emerged, according to Alan Hutton.
Reports have suggested that the Villans could look to sell the academy graduate this summer to remain within the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules because any potential sale would represent pure profit.
However, it has now been suggested that the 22-year-old doesn’t want to leave Villa Park despite transfer interest from both Liverpool and Newcastle United in the last couple of weeks of the domestic season [The Telegraph, 20 May].
Although Hutton understands why Villa may have to sell Ramsey this summer, he thinks the midfielder could force Unai Emery to keep him in his first-team squad if he rejects a potential move away.
“You’re caught between a rock and a hard place,” Hutton told Villa News.
“I’m not sure exactly how long he’s got left on his contract but I’m sure it is a number of years and he’s at an age where he’s broken through, done extremely well and shown he’s more than capable of playing week in, week out.
“He’s a high-value player but if he doesn’t want to leave, you have to use him. You have to look at different avenues, you can’t just decided that he’s not going to play here this season.
“Why would you do that to a young player who has come through the ranks and shown he’s good enough to play within the team? So you have to use him if he doesn’t want to leave.
“I understand why there is the big commotion around him because it is going to be a huge fee of around £40-£50million, it’s straight profit and then you can look to reinvest or balance the books.
“But I wouldn’t want to see him leave because I think Villa are in a very good place right now and he’s a very good player, but only time will tell.”
Will Aston Villa and Unai Emery sell Jacob Ramsey in the summer transfer window amid Liverpool interest?
Villa have worked incredibly hard ever since Emery arrived back in the Premier League to try and build a squad capable of challenging at the top of the table and they won’t want to suffer a setback because of financial regulations.
Therefore, Emery and NSWE will likely do all that they can when the transfer window opens next month to attempt to balance the books and remain within the profit and sustainability limits so as not to be hit with a point deduction.
But if Rasmey is under contract, nobody can force him to leave no matter what bid arrived at Villa Park. If the England youth international is adamant that he wants to remains a Villa player, Emery will simply have to offload other high earners.
As Hutton suggests, it won’t be ideal for anyone involved but the Villans are caught between a rock and a hard place.
In other Aston Villa news, a new Chelsea development may help Villa secure a summer transfer for Conor Gallagher
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