Aston Villa chiefs reveal huge bids were rejected for two vital players this summer

Monchi, president of football operations, and Damian Vidagany, director of football, were dealt a precarious situation from the moment Villa qualified for the UEFA Champions League.

While the players, staff members and supporters celebrated the remarkable achievements of last season, all that Monchi and Vidagany could think about was potential punishments that could spoil everything for the following campaign. The pair were all too aware that Villa were walking a tightrope with the Premier League’s strict profit and sustainability regulations (PSR) and were tasked with the tough job of rectifying the issues.

The repercussions for not balancing the books could have been severe and so it was a mightily stressful time for those in the Villa boardroom. In the end, the issues were rectified with merely a few hours to spare of the Premier League’s deadline, on June 30, as Douglas Luiz completed a £42.3 million transfer to Juventus. But even that was very complicated as Samuel Iling Junior and Enzo Barrenechea moved in the other direction.

“You need to find the solution for a problem. We found a moment when everybody was cheering and celebrating the Champions League, but Monchi and I were at the party thinking how not to spoil this beautiful year. There was a bomb with the countdown, and we were there to cut the cable,” Vidagany told The Athletic.

“We needed to manage the solution of PSR but not take out one of Unai’s most important players. To sell [Ezri] Konsa, to sell [Leon] Bailey... The priority was to solve PSR, but we should not compromise the success of next season,” Vidagany said.

“Another solution was to put onto the market [Ollie] Watkins,” Monchi added. “It’s an easy solution as he’s a top striker. Or to sell the best goalkeeper in the world because we had offers for [Emiliano] Martinez. Or if we sold Ramsey, it would be solved. And we could [have] because we had offers,” Monchi admitted.

With Emery determined to pass through the challenges faced by PSR while not damaging the team’s prospects of being competitive again in 2024/25, Villa had to get creative with their business. Selling academy products isn’t ideal as they form a huge part of the identity of the football club, but Omari Kellyman’s £19 million move to Chelsea was hugely beneficial.

Navigating the minefield of regulations and huge dilemmas made the summer a fraught time when it should’ve been a period of relative calm. Finishing in the Premier League’s top four is no mean feat and it’s not like Villa had splashed the cash at a ludicrous level to get there. Both Monchi and Vidagany believe something needs to change.

“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,” Vidagany said. “If one of the domino pieces jumps out of the line, you won’t complete it. That’s why it was very difficult. It was not only one agent, one player, but three agents, three players, two clubs. It’s like an exponential problem,” the Spaniard concluded.