As the hard work continues across the summer for Unai Emery’s high flying Aston Villa. A look there at the latest news, rumours and ongoings at the club as they are ensuring they are ready to face a return to Europe’s biggest club competition, in the Champions League, next season.
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00:00So, Charlie, let's start by looking at Aston Villa and obviously a big summer ahead preparing
00:06for that return to the Champions League. Just on that, what do you think they need in terms
00:11of transfers, in terms of incomings, to actually bolster their side and actually compete in
00:16the Champions League next season? Because it's certainly a competition, they don't
00:20want to just bow out, they want to make a real impact.
00:23Definitely. You know, Emery's not made this achievement to just stop here. He also continued
00:28that trajectory at Aston Villa. He's committed now for several years. I can see him being
00:33there for a very long time and he wants them to become Premier League title winners at
00:36some point. So, this is the start now of a potential revolution at Aston Villa to get
00:41them properly in the Champions League to make that a regular thing, not just a one-off.
00:45We saw how well they did in the Europa Conference League last season, but Champions League is
00:49a completely different kettle of fish and they are going to have to improve in the transfer
00:53window. At the moment, they are having some financial troubles, which is stopping them
00:57from making loads of big signings. You think, right, they're in the top competition, they
01:01need to make some world-class additions. They can't do that just yet. They're going to have
01:05to be quite clever with things. Ross Barkley is one player who looks set to join for just
01:10£5 million. I think that's really a stupid business and that's where they're kicking
01:14things off, is in the middle of the park, just trying to improve in those positions.
01:18We saw with Bupakar Kamara out injured, how much of an impact that had. But when he comes
01:23back in, he'll feel like a new signing. Emi Buendia as well, coming back in from his injury.
01:27Tyrone Mings. These guys are going to feel like new additions entirely just themselves.
01:31It's just then about trying to make some cheap additions here and there, maybe free transfers,
01:36the odd loan deal here and there again, to try and get them bolstering their squad depth.
01:40Yeah, and you speak about the possible troubles they could face. Just sort of summarise those
01:45for Villa fans maybe watching, listening and trying to grasp this sort of thing that Villa
01:52might fall into if they're not careful. Yeah, we've seen Everton and Nottingham Forest
01:58get tripped up by it last year. The Premier League's strict profit and sustainability
02:02regulations. Those words, I can't stop writing them because they're just so relevant at the
02:06moment, especially for Villa and for Wolves as well, another club I cover. It's all about
02:10not making a loss of £105 million or more over a three-year period. Villa, as it stands,
02:18are set to fail that if they don't make any sales before June 30th. Thankfully for Villa,
02:23they are set to make some sales. It just means that Villa and their squad depth is going
02:28to take a hit and also losing some key players because you've got to sell key players to
02:32get those funds in. One, Weston McKennie is an alright midfielder. I don't think he did
02:36very well at Leeds, but he did very well for Juventus last season. Samuel Illing, Jr. is
02:41an exciting winger. He's English. He broke through at Chelsea and moved to Juventus.
02:46He's played the odd minute in the Champions League here and there. He looks decent, plus
02:49about £17 million. That sorts out Villa for their profit. They get a couple of million
02:54there, but they also get two players who could have that squad depth and potentially building
02:58value.