Jack Grealish transfer saved Aston Villa from threat of huge financial concerns, figures reveal

Aston Villa’s record-breaking £100 million sale of Jack Grealish to Manchester City potentially saved the club from huge financial concerns, new figures have revealed. Some big minuses were suffered last season and this could have struck the NSWE-owned Villans into a difficult situation, but Grealish’s transfer allowed for a small profit.

As published in the financial accounts dated up until the end of May of last year, The Lions had a concerning day-to-day operating loss of £96 million throughout the 2021/22 season. Had they not been able to sell Grealish for such a monumental figure, the spending power could have been far less for Villa in the last few transfer windows.

Although much of this was already public knowledge, the exact figures behind the scenes were not. As pointed out by football finances expert Kieran Maguire, the ‘profit on disposal of players’ registrations’ totaled around £97.5 million, meanwhile, the figure for operations hit a staggering loss of £96.1 million. This resulted in a narrow £1.4 million profit for Villa – a minor win.

When looking at seasons gone by, however, things aren’t so pretty. Maguire’s analysis shows a massive £584 million loss for Villa since 2016, whereas the income for last season was down by around £5 million compared to the campaign previous. There was also some confirmation about the £10 million paid to Randy Lerner. As Maguire put it, this was after Tony Xia “weaseled out of paying a sum due to RL”.

Another takeaway from the accounts is the fact Villa have gone into a small overdraft, not helped by the £150 million figure owed to other clubs for transfers. Add-ons for some deals could cause a further outgoing of around £59.6 million, the data shows. Maguire’s full analysis and details of Villa’s financial accounts can be found here.