If Aston Villa qualify for the Champions League this season, will they still have to shop in the bargain basement of free transfers and loans or can they actually splurge a little? This is a question that came in via our Villa ‘Ask Me Anything’ form where we answer your burning questions
Villa, fifth in the Premier League, are on the brink of qualifying for the Champions League and it will undoubtedly help their financial position.
They can afford a couple of slip ups – one came in Saturday’s defeat at Fulham – and can even reach the Champions League by winning the Europa League – they face Nottingham Forest in the semi final – so it is almost assured.
Bu you just have to look at the accounts to show how important returning to European elite competition is.
The club reported a profit of £17m for 2024-25, the season in which they last played in the Champions League, compared with a loss of nearly £90m in the previous year.
It is clear how vital Champions League football is to Villa, having lost 119.6m for the year 2022-23, and their revenue increased by 37% to £378.1m when they were in the competition.
That said, the expectation is Villa will still have to tread a financial tightrope this summer and will likely need to sell.
Morgan Rogers has excelled since joining from Middlesbrough for £16m two years ago and a strong World Cup for England would allow Villa to demand close to £100m.
Villa want to keep their best players, and Champions League qualification strengthens Villa’s hand, but selling a player every year is the easiest way to comply with the rules.