Aston Villa are aiming to compete with the giants of the Premier League for domestic trophies and to qualify for Europe, but it’s far from busy transfer wise.
The top clubs in England have already spent big money in the transfer window, while Villa are stuggling to land their targets.
This reality is frustrating for fans and staff members alike.
Squad value table shows that Villa are falling behind
The values of Premier League squads continue to rise as every team spends its revenue in the transfer window.
| Team | Squad value |
| Manchester City | €1.34bn |
| Chelsea | €1.27bn |
| Arsenal | €1.17bn |
| Liverpool | €1.08bn |
| Tottenham | €849.9m |
| Manchester United | €818m |
| Brighton | €665.4m |
| Newcastle | €642.9m |
| Aston Villa | €566.8m |
| Nottingham Forest | €472m |
Aston Villa have the ninth-most valuable Premier League squad
This table suggests that Aston Villa have the ninth-most valuable squad in the Premier League. Unai Emery’s 29 first-team players are supposedly worth a combined €566.8m.
That’s less than half the value Manchester City’s, Chelsea’s and Arsenal’s squad. Liverpool, Tottenham, Manchester United, Brighton and Newcastle all have more valuable squads as well.
This goes to show how well Emery did to finish sixth in the Premier League last season.
Villa owners will be encouraged to spend more on the playing squad
If you only consider the value of the Premier League squads, Villa had no right to be competing in the Champions League last season.
They qualified for that competition ahead of far more expensive squads. They were within a whisker of repeating the feat last season.
Credit must be given to Emery for what he has achieved since being appointed as manager.
However, he can only work miracles for so long.
If Villa owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens want to see their side competing in the Champions League again, they will need to reach into their pockets to improve the playing squad, otherwise they risk seeing Villa fall behind their rivals.
They’re already falling behind this summer, but there’s still time to make up for it. At the very least, some quality reinforcements are needed in attack to replace the departures of loan signings Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio.
