Aston Villa did a Chelsea by selling their women’s team to themselves to avoid a PSR breach and remove the need for unwanted player trading before June 30.
But Villa’s ambitions on the pitch and in the transfer market mean they will likely need to stomach at least one high-profile departure this summer to create enough wiggle room in the current transfer window and beyond, with the amortisation of player registration costs meaning it pays to sell players and sign new ones.
A stupid rule but one we’re all stuck with for now. Anyway, we’ve ranked Villa’s top ten most valuable players according to Transfermarkt by the likelihood of them being sold this summer, and have even reassigned them to willing beneficiaries.
10) Boubacar Kamara (£36m) – Manchester United
Loved by Villa fans and underrated by the rest, they’re so, so much better when Kamara’s in the team. He’s worth more to Villa than just about any Premier League side other than United, who haven’t officially admitted to Manuel Ugarte being a stunning waste of £42m but essentially have by accepting that Casemiro in central midfield incredibly remains their reality for next season.
9) Ezri Konsa (£30m) – Manchester City
We really like Konsa and think he’s got as good a chance as anyone of starting the World Cup for England in Thomas Tuchel’s starting XI, though that perhaps sounds like higher praise than it actually is given the dearth of quality in that particular area of the pitch for the Three Lions.
Anyway, he’s great and Villa shouldn’t sell him.
But no-one’s untouchable in their circumstances and we’ve got a strong suspicion that City are walking into a season with a dodgy mix of young and injury-prone centre-backs.
Neither Abdukodir Khusanov nor Vitor Reis convinced after arriving in January, and while the former showed signs he could develop into a quality defender, he may not be granted the luxury of easing into Premier League football when all of Manuel Akanji, John Stones and Nathan Ake are nailed on to be out of action for at least half a season.
And even without widespread injury problems, we reckon Konsa would stand a very good chance of being first choice should he make the switch to the Etihad.
8) Youri Tielemans (£33m) – Real Madrid
With Eduardo Camavinga and Aurelien Tchouameni as his defensive midfield options, “Xabi is missing his ‘Xabi’,” sources close to the Real Madrid coach told ESPN. A’ deep-lying midfielder who can serve not only as a defensive asset but also a playmaking monster’ is essentially a description of Tielemans, who was linked with a move to the Bernabeu towards the end of his Leicester days.
Villa will be loathe to lose him and we are just as uncomfortable at the thought of him not gliding across Premier League pitches next season.
7) Pau Torres (£28m) – Real Madrid
Alonso’s other Madrid priority is a new centre-back as David Alaba and Eder Militao continue to struggle with injuries while Antonio Rudiger looked at the Club World Cup as though age and years of sh*thousery are catching up with him.
That leaves Alonso with young pair Dean Huijsen and Raúl Asencio, and after Torres very nearly moved to the Bernabeu in 2021, reports in April claimed Madrid were again keeping tabs on the 28-year-old.
Our guess is Torres would be somewhere near the bottom of this ranking if it were up to Emery, who counted on the Spain international at Villarreal before signing him for Villa. But a decent offer for a player whose value is only going in one direction should be welcomed.
6) Ian Maatsen (£24m) – Borussia Dortmund
His was far from the most suspicious PSR-swerving deal last summer. About four weeks before his move to the Midlands, Maatsen started the Champions League final for Borussia Dortmund and was named in that season’s team of the tournament. As an isolated deal, there could be no complaints.
But we all smelled a rat given his deal was tied inextricably to Omari Kellyman’s opposite move to Chelsea.
Just ten Premier League starts and a season of playing second fiddle to Lucas Digne provided decent further evidence of the transfer not being one Emery was calling out for last summer, which suggests he would be very much open to Maatsen once again being used as a pawn in this grim game of FFP chess they’re playing with whoever’s amenable.
Short of a PSR pal both willing to sign Maatsen and able to attract him, a return to Dortmund it is.
5) Amadou Onana (£43m) – Tottenham
A bit of a shock for him to be Villa’s second-most valuable asset but that’s as much to do with him being 23 as it is his footballing quality, which is only good enough for the bench in Emery’s first-choice XI, with Kamara and Tielemans the undoubted best partnership at the base of midfield.
That surely makes Onana a standout candidate to be shipped out, and without an obvious team outside of the Premier League willing to pay the usual premium for an as yet unproven midfielder at the very highest level, the Arsenal avenue presumably now closed following their signings of Martin Zubimendi and Christian Norgaard and typically willing patsies for such signings Manchester United too cash-strapped to consider a bid, a move to Tottenham makes the most sense.
They haven’t really got any defensive midfielders having not bothered with that sort of thing for a while, mate. And while Archie Gray is presumably still the long-term plan, he’s still a bit young and daft.
4) Morgan Rogers (£48m) – Chelsea
What absolutely none of us want is for Rogers to sign for a club that’s not going to play him in the season before a World Cup. The ideal would be for Rogers to be playing regularly for a team competing in the Champions League and challenging for trophies in a tournament campaign.
Either of those things could happen at Chelsea, who have reportedly made him their ‘top target’ as they seek one more forward in preparation for the departures of Christopher Nkunku, Joao Felix and possibly Nicolas Jackson, whom Villa themselves are supposedly interested in.
Villa have slapped an £80m price tag on him, presumably to ward off suitors rather than encouraging them as the 22-year-old – on the back of Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio leaving after their loan spells – is the only clear hope for the future in Unai Emery’s attack. Then again, £80m is a lot of PSR wiggle room.
3) Ollie Watkins (£36m) – Manchester United
It’s hard to imagine this summer transfer window not ending with Manchester United paying over the odds for Watkins having made a few quid on a couple of the bomb squad members when desperation to be rid of them sees lowball offers welcomed with open arms.
Rasmus Hojlund struck what we would suggest is a HUGE BLOW by revealing he wants to stay at Old Trafford and fight what will presumably be a losing battle to start as United’s No.9 whether he actually has anyone to compete with for that position or not. Watkins’ reported interest in a move to United is likely as much to do with him being absolutely assured of a starting spot as much as anything else.
Emery’s never been entirely convinced by Watkins, often starting Jhon Duran and then Rashford ahead of him, and given he turns 30 in December it feels like a good time to cash in, even if not quite at the full £60m they’re asking for.
2) Leon Bailey (£24m) – Fenerbahce
It’s never quite worked for Bailey at Aston Villa but he’s by no means been terrible to the point where his value has plummeted – they bought him in 2021 for around £27m.
Reports suggest Fenerbahce want a loan but Villa will hold out for his permanent transfer and a fee close to his valuation. Our guess is they may end up accepting a fair bit less to get him out of the door and off the wage bill.
1) Jacob Ramsey (£28m) – Nottingham Forest
Forest want Ramsey as a replacement for Tottenham-bound Morgan Gibbs-White and this is the one with the most legs it seems, mainly and depressingly thanks to the two-word scourge of football – pure profit.
We won’t get started on the ball-aching insanity of football clubs being encouraged to sell homegrown talent above all others to meet PSR demands, but it’s f***ing bullsh*t and looks set to force a transfer which we’re guessing neither Ramsey nor Villa actually want to happen.
