Aston Villa to look at UEFA ahead of new Joao Felix transfer developments
Aston Villa will have UEFA’s new financial frameworks at the forefront of their minds as they weigh up whether to move for Atletico Madrid forward Joao Felix, Dan Plumley has said.
The Portugal international has been a long-standing target for the Villans and the Daily Mirror reported on Sunday (11 August) that they could pursue an “ambitious” move if Atleti set realistic financial demands.
Both the fee involved and the wages it would require to make the deal happen are reportedly stumbling blocks to the transfer.
But finance expert Plumley suggested that UEFA ditching its FFP rules in favour of a squad-cost ratio set-up (the Guardian) will also come into their thinking.
“We’ve got to also look at that in the context of new UEFA financial sustainability regulations because that is now working on a squad cost ratio which takes into account transfer fees, wages, amortisation, agent fees, it’s a catch-all thing across a calendar year,” he said.
“So, if you are going to go into a market for a player like Joao Felix where you know the transfer fee, if there is one, is going to be high, you know the wages are going to be high you’ve got to factor that into the decision making.
“It’s not just a kind of in and out bottom line anymore, clubs in European competitions have got to look at this squad cost ratio and that’s going to be in the forefront of Villa’s calculations here when they’re looking at can we get a player like that in, potentially what do we have to do to accommodate that within that new framework.”
Aston Villa face difficult Joao Felix transfer decision
Signing a player with Joao Felix’s reputation would certainly be a statement of intent from Villa as they embark on a Champions League campaign this season.
But it would also represent a huge risk, signing a player whose reputation has often outperformed his actual output.
Villa have done some really sensible work in the transfer market in recent seasons and you have to question whether this sort of deal would fit their model.
Moreover, with new regulations to factor in when it comes to European competitions, it has to work financially too. Frankly, it’s not a given that it does.
In other Aston Villa news, one exit-linked ace has been told to “stay quiet” in new transfer admission.
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