Aston Villa are just one month away from their opening Premier League game of the season against Newcastle United, and things have been far too quiet on the transfer front.
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The Villans could light a fire in the transfer market.
Today, Unai Emery’s side confirmed the signing of young defender Modou Kéba Cissé from LASK on a pre-contract agreement, and he’ll link up with the club next year after spending 2025/2026 on loan at the Austrian outfit.
Cisse follows teenage duo Yasin Ozcan and Zepiqueno Redmond to the Midlands, as well as goalkeeper Marco Bizot, with Villa spending an estimated total of just £6 million so far this window.
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Aston Villa’s best performers in the Premier League – 2024/2025 |
Average match rating |
|---|---|
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Youri Tielemans |
7.08 |
|
Morgan Rogers |
6.92 |
|
Marcus Rashford |
6.82 |
|
Tyrone Mings |
6.81 |
|
Ollie Watkins |
6.80 |
|
via WhoScored |
|
Unfortunately for Emery, this window has been dominated by Villa’s battle against both PSR and UEFA’s FFP rules, which have undoubtedly played a role in their lack of activity.
Villa ‘resolved’ their PSR issues by selling their women’s team to V Sports prior to the June 30 footballing financial deadline (The Athletic), negating the need to sell star players, but were fined around £10 million by UEFA recently for FFP breaches, and that could rise to £23 million if they fail to comply again within the next three years (BBC).
The sale of their women’s team, according to UEFA’s club financial control body (CFCB), won’t be counted as profit in the eyes of FFP.
“The sale of tangible or intangible assets, the exchange of players (so-called ‘swaps’) and the transfers of players between related parties” all cannot be included in submitted accounts, read a statement by the CFCB.
Taking this into account, Villa may still be forced to sell a high-profile player or two before deadline day. It is the almighty task of Monchi and NSWE to also ensure that they back Emery ahead of another campaign in Europe.
Their failure to qualify for the Champions League next season already appears to be having grave consequences, but that isn’t to say Villa cannot spend a penny.
Chelsea striker Nicolas Jackson is a target for the club, and media sources suggest they’ve made an approach for the Senegalese in a bid to strengthen their squad.
Unai Emery clear he’s interested in signing Nicolas Jackson for Aston Villa
TBR Football and journalist Graeme Bailey have an update on their links to the Blues forward, who could now leave Stamford Bridge after Chelsea completed the signings of Joao Pedro and Liam Delap for a combined £90 million.
Bailey reports that Emery has made it “known” he’s keen on reuniting with Jackson at Villa, after the pair previously worked together at Villarreal, so the Spaniard has a personal interest in signing the centre-forward.
Agents have reached out to the Villans to express Jackson’s availability, too, alongside Man United.
He was actually described as one of Chelsea’s “most important” players last season by Joe Cole, but he’s no longer considered ‘untouchable‘ by Maresca’s side.
That being said, they’re also apparently in no desperate rush to sell, with The Mail and journalist Matt Barlow surprisingly reporting that Chelsea value Jackson at around £100 million.
Of course, Villa won’t be willing to pay nine figures, but if they can obtain a realistic price tag, there is reason to believe he’d be an excellent addition.
