Aston Villa paid £17m to sign Philippe Coutinho on a four-year deal from Barcelona – £16m less than they were initially told to pay. Villa agreed personal terms with the 29-year-old of £125k-per-week – a 70% paycut from the £480k-per-week he was earning in Spain.
Villa recently signed Boubacar Kamara on a free transfer from Olympique Marseille, thus saving millions of pounds on a defender and defensive-midfielder. They’ve made a move for Burnley’s out-of-contract centre-back James Tarkowski too, so it’s clear the Midlands outfit are making every penny count in the transfer market.
Villa have very wealthy owners in Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris, but they do have to be wary of Financial Fair Play, limiting how much of a loss they can record season-to-season. Since returning to the Premier League, Villa spent £143.5m in 2019/20 with £2.7m being made, spent £91.2m in 2020/21 with £2.5m being made and spent £116.8m in 2021/22 with £114.3m being made, so they’ve finally broken even in one of three seasons.
Kortney Hause, Conor Hourihane, Morgan Sanson, Bertrand Traore and Wesley Moraes could all be sold this summer, so Villa can easily make back the money spent on Coutinho, Kamara and potentially Tarkowski.
In other news, Kortney Hause will be worried about future after Kamara arrival
