Chelsea’s billion-pound transfer spend highlights Aston Villa stagnation amid warning to NWSE
Aston Villa’s stagnation has been writ large in contrast to big-spending Chelsea in the battle to qualify for the Champions League.
At the end of 2025, Villa were being talked up as Premier League title contenders off the back of an 11-match winning run.
Unai Emery was masterminding a remarkable season for the Villa Park outfit, with the Midlands outfit defying the odds, especially when it came to Expected Goals and Expected Points.
However, now, they are 16 points behind league leaders Arsenal and are in a real battle to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
As they tread water in the final stretch of the campaign, the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool are snapping at their heels as fears grow over another end of season wobble.
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Emi Buendia and Leon Bailey sum up Aston Villa’s current malaise
As The Athletic highlights, this time last year, attacking midfielder Emi Buendia and winger Leon Bailey were deemed not good enough at Villa.
The former was shipped out on loan to Bayer Leverkusen in January 2025, while the latter scored just twice in 38 games last season, as he was increasingly relegated to the fringes.
The 28-year-old then headed out on loan to Roma at the start of this campaign before being recalled in January due to a lack of attacking options.
Bailey started in the 4-1 defeat to Chelsea last time out but struggled to make an impact, while Buendia’s encouraging form in the first half of the season appears to have abandoned him.
In January 2025, Villa made five signings, and Buendia and Bailey fell out of the pecking order. Now, they are starting for Emery’s side in huge matches.
Indeed, Villa have not signed a player to improve Emery’s strongest line-up since Morgan Rogers in January 2024.
Moreover, Evann Guessand was signed last summer but joined Crystal Palace on loan at the start of the year, with Bailey brought back as his replacement.
At a time when Chelsea have spent more than £1billion on signings in recent years, Villa are stagnating.
Bailey and Buendia’s game time is “representative of the club’s wrangling with financial restrictions”, arguably stalling the squad’s progression, which isn’t necessarily their fault.
January recruitments such as Tammy Abraham and Douglas Luiz arrived, but Villa have a huge task to save their season and not miss out on Champions League football again.
If not, their finances could suffer again.
Aston Villa struggling to gatecrash the top teams again
Villa have billionaire owners in Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, but due to the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules, they cannot unleash the full spending power at their disposal.
Many critics of the current financial system, such as Newcastle United and Villa, argue that this favours teams such as Arsenal, Manchester United, and Liverpool, as their bigger revenues allow them to outspend their rivals.
Villa have spent more than £600m on players since the 2020-21 season – the ninth-highest in the Premier League. Despite being outspent by many of their rivals, they sit fourth in the table this term.
While they are no longer title contenders, it is safe to say that Emery has done a superb job at Villa Park to date.
Over the past six years, they have made more than £450m from sales as they repeatedly punch above their weight, although they have been offering big wages.
Emery continues to play Ollie Watkins despite his poor form, and fringe players are now back in the fold. There are a lot of reasons to be cheerful at Villa, but there are warning signs, too.
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