Aston Villa will sell Douglas Luiz, Jacob Ramsey and more for FFP and Conor Gallagher
Aston Villa are prepared to sell three big-name players in order to avoid profit and sustainability issues this summer, according to the Daily Mail.
The paper reported via their website on 5 June that Unai Emery is willing to let Douglas Luiz go, with a big-money bid on the way from Juventus that is set to include midfielder Weston McKennie in the deal, and will listen to offers for both Jacob Ramsey and Jhon Duran.
Villa “must look at sales” to stay on the right side of spending rules and players could leave before the 30 June cut off for the current accounting period, as the club must balance the books before pursuing interest in Chelsea’s Conor Gallagher.
Juve are reportedly willing to offer as much as £30million plus USMNT international McKennie for Luiz, who wants to make the move [Gazetta dello Sport, 4 June], while a deal to let Ramsey leave would be registered as pure profit as he is an academy product.
Jacob Ramsey and Jhon Duran could also leave Aston Villa
In the wake of Everton and Nottingham Forest being hit by points deductions most clubs are anxious to avoid similar issues next season.
A cash-plus-player deal to let Luiz leave looks like a downgrade but the value in the deal might make it an understandable decision.
But it is not going to be cheap to do a deal for Gallagher, with Chelsea eyeing a substantial profit of their own for the academy graduate thanks to pressure on the accounts at Stamford Bridge as well.
The Blues are reportedly interested in signing Duran [The Athletic, 4 June] so he could conceivably be included in a cash-plus-player deal in the opposite direction just a year and a half after arriving.
That would leave Emery with an even greater reliance on star striker Ollie Watkins unless he can also source an affordable replacement for the young Colombian forward.
And while Ramsey, 23, saw last season derailed by injury it is unlikely to be popular for a homegrown midfielder to be sacrificed for PSR reasons after developing into an important first-team player, in an ironic mirroring of Gallagher’s situation at Chelsea.
In other Aston Villa news, a talent has finalised terms at Villa Park.
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