The Main Moves of Aston Villa’s Squad Reboot Begin
Aston Villa’s summer took another turn this week: Morgan Rogers completed a British-record £117m move to Chelsea rather than Arsenal, João Gomes’ switch from Wolves was announced, while João Palhinha’s loan from Bayern Munich is less straightforward than it looked.
From an Squad Cost Ratio (SCR) point of view, Morgan Rogers fee will suddenly give Unai Emery and the football department further headroom to go with the £35m pure profit fee of Your Tielemans sale, on top of other outgoings, to fund a rebuild. Rogers is another major wage earner to be removed in terms of SCR too.
João Gomes introduction begins to change Villa’s midfield profile. Where Tielemans lacked pace and physical engagement, Gomes offers both — receiving on the half-turn and starting attacks rather than simply holding position. While he doesn’t possess the quickness of mind and passing range of Tielemans, it’s expected that Kamara will push forward with more licence than he had last season.
Gomes’ discipline record — ten yellow cards and no reds last season, at a volume of tackles and interceptions that would ordinarily invite more bookings — reads as a player who knows exactly where the line sits.
This week’s episode of the My Old Man Said podcast goes back over the week that was and explains why Chelsea, not Arsenal, always made more sense once the pieces were on the table — Johan Manzambi’s arrival, the timing of the announcement, and what it signalled about who Villa expected to be negotiating with. There’s a breakdown of João Gomes’ fit alongside Boubacar Kamara, an honest look at where the Palhinha deal actually stands, and the developing left-back competition between Ian Maatsen and the potential incoming Pervis Estupiñán.
Plus, we get into the conversations that are on the horizon: Emiliano Martínez’s finger and Ezri Konsa’s contract situation.
Correction: In this episode we said Rogers’ sale profit counts against Villa’s Squad Cost Ratio in one go, this season only. That’s wrong — sale profit is averaged over three seasons under SCR (as it was PSR), so only a third of the profit from the £117m fee counts this year. It is one season for UEFA’s FER rules though, which we meant. We’ve also offered a correction on the next show.
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Credits:
David Michael – @myoldmansaid / Chris Budd – @BUDD_music / Phil Shaw – @prsgame
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