Ex-Aston Villa chief feels sorry for Damian Vidagany as Villans are wronged by the Premier League

Aston Villa are being punished by profit and sustainability rules [PSR] in their ambitions to compete with Europe’s top clubs.

That is according to former Aston Villa chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking to Football Insider, who sympathises with the owners for not being allowed to invest more in the squad.

It comes after the club’s director of football operations, Damian Vidagany, claimed that PSR rules are affecting their ability to spend money in the transfer market.

Manager Unai Emery has been praised for the work he has done at the club under the restrictions, with Champions League qualification looking likely this season.

However, Aston Villa still face selling players this summer before they can buy, and the club are desperate to keep star asset Morgan Rogers for another season.

Aston Villa ‘trying really hard’ to navigate around PSR rules

Everton’s former chief Keith Wyness – who served as CEO at Goodison Park between 2004 and 2009 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – believes Aston Villa would not go bust if the owners could spend however much they wanted.

Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast, Wyness thinks there are better solutions to PSR rules which could benefit clubs like Aston Villa.

He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “Where Villa have got PSR issues compared to some of their competitors is purely the size and scale of the revenue.

“Villa Park is being knocked down for a season to get it to 50,000, and you’ve got to find other revenue sources. It’s just that question mark of the revenue of the club going forward. That’s what they’ve got to keep increasing revenue, and it’s just so difficult these days.

“I can’t remember a Premier League club going bust. We’re not talking about Bury or other clubs like that. I just don’t see the need for PSR like this, and it should be readjusted to allow owners to put money in should they wish to, provided they put it in a certain way that is not debt on the club. There are many ways to get that to be achieved.

“So it is wrong, and it has been like pulling up the drawbridge behind the top clubs who’ve got that big revenue and that’s fundamentally the wrong issue, and it’s not solving the problem that it’s supposed to be solving about the sustainability of clubs. So I have complete sympathy with Damian on this one.

“Villa are trying really hard with Emery to try and get Champions League, improving the squad, doing the best they can, and they’re now being penalised for that effort and that’s wrong for the Premier League as a global product. It’s wrong because we should be having clubs challenging and doing their best at the top level.”

Aston Villa prepare for life with new number one

One player who could leave Villa Park this summer is goalkeeper Emi Martinez, with the club expecting bids for the 33-year-old.

Inter Milan are expected to be one club who could make an offer for the Argentine, who has proved to be one of the best shot stoppers in the world in recent seasons.

Sources have told Football Insider that Aston Villa will pursue James Trafford as Martinez’s replacement, with the 23-year-old looking to leave Manchester City.

Despite his desire to be a number one goalkeeper, Man City are expected to want to make a small profit on the £31million they spent on bringing Trafford back to the Etihad last summer, which could make him an expensive signing for Aston Villa.

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