Aston Villa: Has Dr. Tony Xia changed his transfer strategy?

Selling big

There were exceptions though and when Villa did make a profit, that profit tended to be big.

Ashley Young, James Milner, Stewart Downing, Fabian Delph and Christian Benteke were all sold for fees that were not only higher than the initial price Villa paid, but at a point in their contracts when their value (as far as Villa’s books are concerned) was relatively low.

For example, when Ashley Young was sold to Manchester United, he only had one year left on his contract with Villa. This meant that, in an accounting sense at least, Ashley Young was worth around £2m (his £9.6m transfer fee divided by his 4.5 year contract). For the Board, that deal was pretty profitable.

For Fabian Delph even, the contract extension in the final months of his original contract meant that the paltry £8m we received would have gone into the books as almost entirely profit. In theory, selling players at the last possible moment is when they can be the most profitable to the club. This is why Arsenal’s accountants will be opening the champagne at the thought of selling Alexis Sanchez to Manchester United for £30m.

While it’s potentially the most profitable time to sell, it’s also clearly high risk and there is no arguing Manchester City clearly got a bargain with Delph. As a result of amortisation decreasing the player’s value over the length of the contract, the player’s value is theoretically at its lowest in the final months, even if the going market-rate for comparable players might be at an all time high. Every club and player in football understands how this works – so the selling club ends up in a weakened negotiating position when it comes to transfer fees (or release clauses).

Clearly, it’s not just the finances of that sale that caused controversy, but that’s been covered at the time elsewhere.