On-pitch performance
A shift from listlessness to intensity put a bad start behind Aston Villa and has moved them up to third in the Premier League.
A World Cup-winning goalkeeper (Emi Martínez, who may leave) and a rival to Jude Bellingham in the England squad (Morgan Rogers) adorn a side with seven consecutive wins in all competitions. In midweek they came back from 2-0 down at Brighton to win 4-3. On Saturday, it was victory against leaders Arsenal with the last kick of the game. Above all they are well-coached by Unai Emery, resolute and effective.
Their recruitment story has been a struggle to comply with the profit and sustainability rules (PSR) soon to be replaced next season by a squad cost ratio (SCR) system. It’s why they sold Jacob Ramsey to Newcastle, Douglas Luiz to Juventus and Jhon Duran to Al-Nassr, borrowed Jadon Sancho from Manchester United and took Victor Lindelöf on a free from Old Trafford. Harvey Elliott’s loan from Liverpool has been a non-event.
The main area of business has been contract extensions for Emiliano Buendía, Matty Cash, Lucas Digne, Tyrone Mings, Boubacar Kamara and John McGinn – all core players. Rogers, 23, the PFA Young Player of the Year, has signed until 2031 and is one of the league’s most dangerous attacking midfielders.
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Donyell Malen looked a solid “impact” buy from Dortmund but is now pushing to be a regular starter. Buendía’s flashes of artistry are worth waiting for. Youri Tielemans, recently back from injury, is a class act. And Ollie Watkins finally found his form with two goals at Brighton.
Manager
Emery’s long post-match orations are sometimes hard to untangle but his credibility isn’t in doubt. His four Europa League titles (three with Sevilla, one with Villarreal) are an asset to Villa as they try to establish themselves as European regulars.
Intense, meticulous and driven, Emery might have ended up at Newcastle before taking over Villa in October 2022 when they were 15th. In May 2024 he secured Villa’s first Champions League qualification since their European Cup campaign of 1982-83 (they had won it the season before). Villa look a bit of a “ceiling” club but Emery is the ideal coach to keep them pressing the level they are at.
Money
Employing a popular trick, Villa agreed a deal to sell their women’s team to V Sports, the club’s parent company: a reported £55m transaction that qualifies for the most recent accounts and therefore helps with PSR.
They made a loss after tax of £85.4m in the 13 months to June 2024 and £119.6m the year before that. In July, they were fined £9.5m by Uefa for paying more than 80% of their income out in wages. The owners are sufficiently rich and well connected to spend more – when they’re allowed.
Fan satisfaction
After an alarming start to the season (no wins and just one goal in their first five league matches) Villa fans are again enjoying their team’s pace and industriousness.
Concerns about financial constraints are omni-present but the mood is positive. Birmingham City’s proposed 62,000-seat “Powerhouse” stadium with 12 brick chimneys – and extravagant Sports Quarter project – comes across as an AI fantasy, but Villa fans will be nervous about it becoming reality. For the first time in decades, a true Birmingham rivalry could be returning.
Products and prospects
Ramsey, Omari Kellyman and Tim Iroegbunam are Villa academy lads recently sold for profit, to Newcastle, Chelsea and Everton respectively. When Monchi left as president of football operations this autumn, he was replaced by Roberto Olabe, who made his name at Real Sociedad, where he helped shape the careers of Martín Zubimendi, Mikel Merino and Martin Ødegaard (Arsenal) – as well as Alexander Isak (Liverpool), whose career Sociedad rebooted.
That pedigree in player development bodes well for Villa’s best youngsters, provided that the club don’t sell them to balance the books. Full-back Triston Rowe, 19, on loan at Annecy, is said to be among the most promising.
Ownership
Nassef Sawiris (Egyptian) and Wes Edens (American) are billionaires who bought the club in 2018 out of the faltering ownership of Dr Tony Xia. The purchase price of about £60m was good value, even with the club in a financial mess, with an extra takeover cost of £56m for Villa Park.
Edens is a private equity investor and co-owner of the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks. Sawiris comes from Egypt’s wealthiest family and is a fertiliser tycoon who owns nearly 6% of Adidas. The two control Villa through the umbrella firm V Sports and with fresh funding from Atairos, a “strategic investment” firm based in New York and Philadelphia.
Villa’s ownership is a modern multi-sports global investment model. Underlying them all is the belief that “value” can be added to the asset – and therefore a profit made.
Women’s team
All Villa’s investment literature gives equal mention to the women’s team and all their league games are played at Villa Park. They joined the WSL in 2020 and are a solid mid-table side. Like Olabe, women’s head coach Natalia Arroyo joined from Real Sociedad. Rachel Daly is their best-known player.
History
Three seasons in the Championship (2016-19) felt like an eternity for a club who were European Cup champions in 1982.
Since their return to the top division, Villa have finished 17th, 11th, 14th, seventh, fourth and sixth – a pattern of improvement, but with no suggestion of a sustained title challenge. They are a touch above where Premier League economics say they should be, given their budget issues.
Club facilities
Home since 1897, Villa Park is a British classic, with four stands and history all around. The 13,000-seat Holte End is the spiritual home of the fanbase. A redevelopment in time for Euro 2028 will raise the capacity above 50,000, with a new multi-use fan zone called The Warehouse, promising music, boxing and comedy, and replicating moves at other clubs to widen stadium use.
Their Bodymoor Heath training ground is also being upgraded, with emphasis on women, youth, office space and “dining facilities” – which are currently “inadequate”, the club say. Forty new bedrooms will be available to staff and players.
Atmosphere
At some clubs, you can still feel echoes of an ancient community bond. The streets around Villa Park – burger vans, packed pubs that are decidedly non-bistro – are redolent of the pre-Premier League era.
Inside there’s no shortage of fervour – when the performance merits it. The “matchday experience” is at a familiar halfway point between Victorian origins and looming entertainment complex day out.
Photograph by Aston Villa FC via Getty Images