There will always be a lot of potential options for Aston Villa to explore. The reality of PSR does present some challenges. At this point, there is an overemphasis on the need for the club to seemingly sell everyone. Instead, while selling players could help this aspect, the larger aspect in this area has to do with the amount that is currently being allocated toward wages.
In any event, there are ways to work past the current obstacles. Certainly, until something has been done, there are always options on the table until those avenues too are closed, as Premier League fans saw with Chelsea's latest attempts to circumvent any consequences of the guidelines.
Regardless, the insistence of Villa getting rid of players simply for the sake of doing so cannot continue to be seen as an unavoidable only solution.
Many in the media space have a different Villa player a day leaving B6.
Today's exile du jour comes in the form of Jacob Ramsey. The argument others are making is that because he is an academy product, it means it becomes easier to sell him and joyfully accept the 100% profit.
What such opinions are missing is how a side goes about building a proper team environment. Only looking to axe players who came through the academy system sends an awful message. Particularly if the worst of the PSR doomsayers turns out to be true, the academy will only increase in importance.
Putting players out on the selling block because they did not initially cost something will incentivize everyone to perpetually be on the lookout and push for a move at the first possible chance.
Long-term approach from Aston Villa
Instead, a club like Villa can separate themselves and have an advantage by creating a welcoming environment and showing that there is a continued, legitimate path to the senior level. More importantly, proving that the club is committed to helping players develop has to be a cornerstone of the operations.
There will be hard choices to make. When a player, initially from the academy or otherwise, is let go, it needs to be part of a process that evaluates the overall landscape of the decision and is done in a manner that still genuinely appreciates what someone has done for Villa.