Despite Aston Villa qualifying for the Champions League, it was an incredibly difficult summer for the club’s hierarchy as a lot of work was needed to avoid breaching Premier League spending rules.
Unai Emery oversaw a remarkable campaign in the 2023/24 season, guiding Aston Villa to the semi-final of the Europa Conference League alongside a top four finish.
However, any dreams that Villa would subsequently be able to spend endless riches on their squad were soon quashed as the early weeks of the summer were dominated by talk of a potential breach of Premier League Profit and Sustainability Regulations (PSR).
The club did sign seven players this summer to help get Emery’s squad Champions League ready, with Amadou Onana, Ian Maatsen and Ross Barkley just three of those who arrived at Villa Park.
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However, this could not be done until one of the key men from last season was sold, with Douglas Luiz sold to Juventus for £42 million at the end of June.
Douglas Luiz sale to Juventus crucial to Aston Villa avoiding points deduction
Luiz‘s transfer to Juventus was confirmed on 30th June and the timing of this was very significant.
30th June was the deadline set by the Premier League for clubs to submit their accounts for the last three-year period, or ‘PSR window’.
Luiz was viewed as the sellable asset whose departure would have the least impact on Emery’s team and so the decision to sell the Brazilian was made weeks prior to the eventual announcement just hours before the PSR deadline.
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Birmingham Live have now revealed just how close this was, reporting: “Villa were facing the very real threat of a big points deduction as Douglas Luiz’s move to Juventus hung in the balance while the hours ticked down on the ‘unofficial transfer deadline day’ on June 30.”
PSR stipulates that Premier League clubs are not able to lose more than £105 million over a three year period.
Whilst in the past the Premier League’s attempts to regulate losses have appeared a little toothless, points deductions for both Everton and Nottingham Forest last season show this is no longer the case.
Monchi and Damian Vidagany open up on ‘very difficult’ Aston Villa sale of Luiz
Whilst Villa fans were delirious celebrating the fact they would see their side compete in the Champions League for the first time since the 1982/83 season – when it was named the European Cup – key figures at the club were planning for a stressful summer.
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President of football operations, Monchi, and director of football operations, Damian Vidagany, had their work cut out to ensure Villa avoided a points deduction that would dent their recent progress on the pitch.
Both Monchi and Vidagany spoke to a small group of journalists on Tuesday where they spoke on the “very difficult” summer.
Birmingham Live report that Vidagany explained the complexity of the high-pressure PSR Deadline sale of Luiz, saying: “”When everybody was cheering for the Champions League, Monchi and I were in the party thinking how not to spoil this beautiful year by having a points deduction.
“This is something that everyone was not looking at. But there was a bomb with the countdown, and we were there to cut the cable.
“From May 20th until June 30th, one month and 10 days, the period that normally is the holiday period for everyone in football, but for us, a very difficult moment, because we had to do some deals with profit.
“This is the worst market in history because we were so pressured by time, by the weakness you are showing, and because there are many actors in the deals. If one of the domino pieces jumps out of the line, you won’t complete it. That’s why it was very difficult.”
Negotiations with Juventus were difficult as the Italian giants wanted to swap players for Luiz, but Villa needed the injection of funds.
Therefore, it was eventually agreed that Juve would pay £42 million for Luiz and Villa would subsequently buy Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea for a combined fee of £18.75 million.
The fact the confirmation of deals for Iling-Junior and Barrenechea came a day after the 30th June deadline was no coincidence, as this then meant their purchases will be in the next three-year PSR window.
Whilst this proved to be a favourable resolution for all parties, Vidagany explained why this made the deals so complicated, saying: “It was not only one agent, one player, but three agents, three players, two clubs – it’s like an exponential problem.
“Monchi and I travelled to Italy in the last week of May. We got a pre-agreement. The final signing happened on June 30. It was a rollercoaster.”
To further complicate matters, Luiz was representing Brazil at Copa America whilst all of this was going on, with Monchi explaining: “But we had a problem. Douglas at this time was in the USA with Brazil for the Copa America. You need to do the medical, sign the contract … crazy.”
Vidagany added: “There was one sleepless night. They [Brazil] played in Vegas then after the game they were supposed to go to a hotel to sign the contract. But the national team of Brazil stopped them going to Vegas as they were scared about partying.
“From the moment we shook hands with Cristiano Giuntoli from Juventus until the final signing, it was one month. We were saying ‘OK, we have solved it, maybe’… we have a parachute but we don’t know if it’s going to work.”
An incredibly difficult summer with PSR raising issues Villa fans would have never envisaged they would encounter having qualified for the Champions League, Monchi and Vidagany will be very relieved that the transfer window is now closed.
