Every football club has to balance its books but Aston Villa will have to be even more careful than usual with their transfer business after being hit with a £9.5million fine for breaching Uefa’ financial rules.
Without going into excessive detail, Villa fell foul of Uefa’s sporting cost ratio – that’s the difference between incomings and outgoings – while playing in last season’s Champions League.
They missed out on a second straight season in Europe’s elite club competition when they lost at Manchester United on the final day of the 2024/25 campaign, leaving Villa contemplating Thursday night football in the Europa League instead.
Unai Emery’s side also have a £4m penalty hanging over their heads if they breach the Uefa spending rules in any of the next three seasons but, despite the need to cut the payroll, club insiders haves insisted there will be no firesale.
Former Liverpool midfielder Philippe Coutinho has signed for Brazilian club Vasco da Gama, but that hasn’t stopped Manchester United being linked with a bid for Ollie Watkins while they also have interest in outstanding Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.
The erratic form of United No.1 Andre Onana raised concerns last term, especially when he made a couple of howlers against Lyon in the Europa League quarter-finals, before being bailed out by his team-mates.
He was also at fault during his side’s Champions League run the previous season and additional errors in the top-flight mean the ex-Ajax shot-stopper is likely to be replaced between the posts.
United could try to frustrate Newcastle with a late move for Burnley prospect James Trafford while Brighton’s Bart Verbruggen has also performed well since being signed from Anderlecht a couple of years ago.
But Martinez, who was exceptional in helping Argentina win the last World Cup, is the clear-cut choice especially with a cloud appearing over his Villa future at the end of last season when it emerged he is seeking a new challenge.
Villa won’t want to let the 32-year-old leave even if they receive a gigantic offer and bet365 go 2/1 he stays where he is, but with United 6/4 with the same firm to lure him up the M6 to vastly improve the position for the foreseeable future.
Wimbledon odds as quarter-finals begin
Cameron Norrie dug deep to beat Nicolas Jarry and clinch a quarter-final showdown with Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon.
It looks like this will be the end of the line for the last Brit standing at the All England Club, though, as the defending champion from Spain is back to his best, playing some exquisite tennis as he replied to losing the first set in his fourth-round test against Andrey Rublev by taking the next three in style.
The No.2 seed, reigning French Open champion and King of Queen’s can scent another trophy and Ladbrokes, Coral, bet365 and Bet Victor look to have it spot on by pricing Alcaraz at 4/6 to win in straight sets.
Aryna Sabalenka, meanwhile, is closing in on the women’s title and the world No.1 appears to have played her way into her best form when beating spirited Emma Raducanu in straight sets in the third round.
She backed that up by beating Elise Mertens on Sunday and Sabalenka’s next task is against surprise package Laura Siegemund, who eliminated Madison Keys before another straight-sets success against Solana Sierra on her way to the last eight.
Despite the German’s impressive form, Sabalenka is a big step up in class and she can also triumph with the minimum of fuss by winning by over 6.5 games at evens with Sky Bet.