Toon heroes could easily have been poor Villans
FLIPSIDE OF FINANCIAL GAMBLE ALL TOO CLEAR
NEWCASTLE United took a serious financial gamble following relegation last summer.
The Magpies continued to operate on a Premier League budget, even though they were no longer beneficiaries of the top flight’s lucrative TV deal.
Promotion simply had to happen and, with Rafa Benitez reconfirmed as their manager, it was a calculated risk from managing-director Lee Charnley – and one which has paid off handsomely.
The same, though, cannot be said of Aston Villa.
Like the Magpies, the Villans speculated in the hope of accumulating following demotion – but owner Tony Xia’s flutter has not paid off.
Hiring Roberto di Matteo, a Champions League-winning manager but someone who did not have a history of rebuilding clubs, was a strange move. By the time Steve Bruce was parachuted in to perform an attempted rescue mission, Villa had already been cut hopelessly adrift in the fight for the play-off positions, never mind the automatic promotion spots. Over the course of the campaign, Villa paid out more than £70million in transfer fees, yet recouped just £40m. Benitez may have spent an eye-watering £55m on incomings but he ended the summer with a £30m net profit after bringing in £85m worth of player sales. Newcastle’s outlay has delivered the Championship title and an immediate Premier League return.
All Villa’s return has brought is another season in the second-tier wilderness alongside Sunderland and Boro and potential further pitfalls down the line, too.
Xia confirmed via his Twitter account over the weekend Villa will need to spend conservatively over the coming transfer windows due to concerns over Financial Fair Play.
In fact, reports have suggested Bruce has been told he will have a
budget of just £1m this summer – and will therefore need to sell before he can buy, or look at merely bringing players in on loan this summer.
EFL rules on FFP mean the Second City club are able to lose up to £83m across three seasons without being penalised, according to our sister publication The Birmingham Mail.
Yet Villa’s latest accounts already show a deficit of £81.3m, suggesting Xia has little wiggle room as far as offering funds are concerned.
When Xia first bought Villa, he spoke of Champions League football within five years, yet he is now being forced to comprehend an extended stay in the purgatory of the Championship.
Villa are a prime example of what Newcastle could have been.
Without Benitez carefully plotting the Magpies’ path, they could have been a basket case of a club.
Instead, they are back in the Premier League – and appear to have a bright future ahead.