What a 24 hours for Aston Villa fans.
On Sunday night they were celebrating a possible £60million club-record deal for Swiss star Johan Manzambi, who wants to move to Villa instead of Newcastle.
On Monday morning, they were feeling gloomy again as it emerged Youri Tielemans was set to join Manchester United and Daily Mail Sport revealed that Lucas Digne could move to Paris Saint-Germain after the World Cup.
Because Villa find themselves in UEFA’s ‘special measures’, they must offset the cost of signings with sales. Other than simply sticking with the same squad, Villa have no option but to let some key players depart.
Here Daily Mail Sport breaks down the choices Unai Emery faces – and the detail within UEFA’s rules that gives them a little more breathing space.
On Sunday night Villa fans were celebrating a possible £60million club-record deal for Swiss star Johan Manzambi (left), who wants to move to Villa instead of Newcastle
Youri Tielemans is set to join Manchester United after they activated his release clause
UEFA’S rules – the state of play
Before analysing Villa’s window, it is worth remembering the terms of UEFA’s ‘settlement agreement’, which European football chiefs imposed on the club when they broke spending rules.
Villa are allowed to lose £52m in wage and transfer spending across 2025-26 and 2026-27 as long as billionaire owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens inject at least that much during the relevant period. They fulfilled their side of the bargain with a £93m share issue in the 2024-25 accounting period.
Now for the next part, which requires a close look at UEFA’s club licensing and financial sustainability regulations. When Villa sign players, they can spread the cost of the transfer over five accounting years. In that scenario, Manzambi would cost £12m for each of the next five years.
For player sales, however, clubs can write down the entire sum immediately. So in the case of Tielemans, who joined on a free transfer, that would be an instant profit of nearly £35m – the value of his release clause. Digne’s release clause is nearly £10m, but that is a little more complicated.
Digne joined Villa for £25m in 2022 and signed a new three-year deal a year ago, when his ‘book’ value for accounting purposes was £10m. That will now have dropped to about £6.5m. By selling Tielemans and Digne, Villa could write down a profit of nearly £42m, putting them at least £30m in the black even if Manzambi joins, taking into account the £52m they are allowed to lose.
Digne and Tielemans are also among Villa’s highest earners, which would ease the strain on the balance sheet even more. Then if Villa can offload unwanted fringe players such as Lewis Dobbin, who is set to join Southampton, Unai Emery can breathe a little easier.
Yet replacements never come cheap and Emery is unlikely to be happy with these developments. With the Premier League starting again in a little more than five weeks, Emery and his lieutenants have plenty of work to do to give him a squad who can compete at home and abroad.
Lucas Digne joined Villa for £25m in 2022 and signed a new three-year deal a year ago, when his ‘book’ value for accounting purposes was £10m
Unai Emery has plenty of work to do in the transfer market to keep Aston Villa competitive
Emery’s response
Three of Emery’s favourite words are ‘serious’, ‘mature’ and ‘responsible’. Think of three to describe Tielemans and Digne, and they will be near the top of the list. They are high-performance, low-maintenance footballers – consistent, rarely injured and respected across the squad.
Yet Digne turns 33 on July 20 and Tielemans will be 30 next year. The Belgian has also been playing top-level senior football since he was 16. How much more does he have left in the tank?
Given fellow central midfielders Elliot Anderson and Sandro Tonali have moved for nine-figure sums this summer, the release clause in Tielemans’ deal feels remarkably low. Yet when Villa signed him in summer 2023, they had qualified only for the Conference League and the midfielder market was very different to how it is now.
A release clause – plus very high wages – likely ensured the Tielemans deal made it over the line. Still, though, charging only £35m for a proven performer seems almost negligent. Even though he is 29, to think Tielemans could cost only a third of what Declan Rice, Anderson and Tonali did is quite a head-scratcher.
At the start of this summer, Emery’s focus was on wide attackers. Ibrahim Mbaye, the Paris Saint-Germain forward, remains high on his list, as does Jarrod Bowen of West Ham. He also likes Harvey Barnes and Gabriel Martinelli but priorities may have to change.
With Tielemans possibly on his way out, Amadou Onana sidelined with a ruptured ACL and Boubacar Kamara still recovering from his own knee injury, Villa are short of experience and quality in the middle. Expect that to be addressed as a matter of urgency.
Villa’s Amadou Onana ruptured his ACL while on World Cup duty with Belgium
Boubacar Kamara is still recovering from his own knee injury, leaving Villa short in the middle of the pitch
Will other players be sold?
Put simply, yes – assuming Emery wants to strengthen. Manzambi is a thrilling prospect but at this stage, does not appear to have the tactical discipline to play in central midfield for Emery and Freiburg used him mainly as a No 10.
At left back, Ian Maatsen has never quite convinced Emery and Villa have been offered the chance to sign Pervis Estupinan, the former Brighton defender currently at AC Milan. Emery would probably rather have sold Maatsen than Digne but Maatsen is only 24 and may improve.
Tammy Abraham joined Villa only last January but never forced his way past Ollie Watkins. Don’t be surprised if Abraham is among those Emery considers expendable, though finding a buyer may be a trickier task. The same is true of Evann Guessand, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Crystal Palace.
The one deal that could give Emery freer rein in the market, however, is the one Villa would really, really rather not do.
Tammy Abraham joined Villa only last January but never forced his way past Ollie Watkins and could be sold
The Morgan Rogers issue
Villa know they are going to receive bids for their star attacker this summer. They also know that, despite signing a new deal less than a year ago, Rogers would be open to a move. Arsenal are believed to be strongly interested.
Yet Villa chief Nassef Sawiris has watched players he deems less valuable than Rogers, like Tonali and Anderson, command fees of £100m and more. He and co-owner Edens see no reason to offer discounts on the 23-year-old and the likely sale of Tielemans and Digne will strengthen their hand.
The nightmare scenario for Villa is that Arsenal test their resolve with a bid well in excess of £100m in mid or late-August. That would unsettle the player and, if Villa decided to accept, upset the balance of the squad, leaving little time to source a replacement of similar quality.
Players who deliver double figures in goals and assists are very precious and even if Manzambi fulfils his enormous potential, he will need time to adjust to the speed and physicality of English football.
Villa will hold out for north of £100m for England star Morgan Rogers having seen the likes of Sandro Tonali and Elliot Anderson go for large fees this summer
One more issue to follow closely: the negotiations for Tielemans mean that lines of communication between Villa and United are firmly open.
The clubs have done business before, too – Marcus Rashford had a successful loan spell at Villa in the second half of the 2024-25 season and might have signed up for another year’s loan had they qualified for the Champions League. The less said about Jadon Sancho’s stint at Villa Park, the better.
Rashford, though, is worth watching. A return to Villa would be complicated. His £325,000-a-week wages are more than double those of Villa’s top earners, leaving another loan as the only realistic option. Would United be happy to strengthen a fellow Champions League qualifier?
As things stand, though, Barcelona have not moved again for Rashford and if there is no place for him at United, Villa may at least be tempted to pick up the phone.
