The unpopular Aston Villa and Newcastle United swap transfer deal that would see both clubs benefit - opinion

Aston Villa’s summer transfer window is now well underway - albeit with a short, five-day break in between - and business is getting kick-started.

Unai Emery’s side may not have officially signed or sold any players just yet but that doesn’t mean heaps of deals haven’t been worked on behind the scenes. Villa have no choice but to act quickly this summer as they must sanction one significant sale - or several less lucrative exits - to comply with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR), with the deadline to balance their books coming up on June 30.

As Villa and other Premier League clubs try to navigate PSR again this summer, a theme from this time last year could carry over. Bold transfer swap deals became quite the trend ahead of the 2024/25 season as several clubs up and down the division tried to find the best ways to deal with PSR issues. There’s no definitive loophole, as such, but teams discovered that buying and selling players to one another in a non-official swap deal was a clever workaround.

Take Villa’s sale of Tim Iroegbunam to Everton, for example. The Villans let their academy product leave for Goodison Park for £9 million, while Toffees winger Lewis Dobbin moved in the other direction for £10 million. Then, elsewhere in the division, there was Nottingham Forest’s £35 million purchase of Newcastle United’s Elliot Anderson that saw fringe goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos leave for £20 million.

Out of all four of those deals, Anderson is arguably the only one who has represented any clear value afterwards. It was obvious that many of the transfers - not just the examples mentioned - only went ahead for PSR reasons. As much as they were a little questionable, they were at least within the boundaries.

Which similar deals could go ahead this summer, then? Well, Birmingham World has been examining squads across the Premier League and believes there’s one move that could work well for all parties involved.

Swap deal makes sense for Aston Villa and Newcastle - even if it would be unpopular with supporters

Villa and Newcastle could be poised for an effective exchange this summer. Now, we know it might be tricky to get supporters to get on board with it, but Villa letting Jacob Ramsey leave and Newcastle giving Harvey Barnes in return could work better than it may appear on paper.

Emery’s side have been interested in Barnes for a little while and Newcastle have been eager to sign Ramsey for even longer. In fact, for as long as Emery has been at Villa Park, the Magpies have been sniffing around and hoping to sign Ramsey as Eddie Howe believes the wide midfielder could fit perfectly into his system.

As Ramsey is an academy product, his sale would represent pure profit for Villa and would help so much towards PSR, not only for this year but also next. Newcastle, although safe this summer, haven’t been immune to PSR problems themselves in previous years and could balance their own books pretty effectively by letting Barnes go in a separate transaction.

It’s a strange one as Ramsey is probably the better player with a higher ceiling but Barnes had a far more impressive output last season. Ramsey scored just one goal and notched three assists in 29 Premier League games, whereas Barnes contributed nine goals and five assists in 34 English top-tier appearances.

As both are predominantly left wingers who can cut in and play in attacking midfield, neither Villa or Newcastle would have to worry about signing a replacement – they’d naturally be acquiring one. Yes, both clubs would lose a player that their fans have a great affection for, but the brutal reality of PSR is often having to say farewell to those you’d rather not.

There are certainly differences between the two as Barnes is perhaps a little more direct than Ramsey, helped by his agility and balance. Ramsey is more physical, though, and is better at holding up the ball and shrugging off defenders.

Some may think what is the point of this deal if Ramsey and Barnes are bought and sold for a similar fee - or even the same - but that’s where the beauty of the separate transactions comes in. Say Villa were to sell Ramsey to Newcastle for £50 million, they would be seen as earning exactly that in respect to PSR. Then, if they were to Barnes for £50 million, Newcastle would be making a £12 million profit on the fee they paid to sign the winger from Leicester City.

It’s unlikely this swap deal will go ahead, but, with Villa interested in Barnes and Newcastle so keen Ramsey, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that it does. Would you like to see it happen? Or rather, do you think it would be smart if it did? Let us know in the comments section.