Gone is the effervescent, rarely wrong, and inspirational figure in black. Now Unai is cutting a dejected profile on the sideline, focusing on things he cannot fix, whilst hoping for a miracle to repair those he can. To underline the current travails, Emery was on the cusp of a rare 100th win as Villa boss; now he is on the cusp of a 50th defeat, with few expecting the former to come first. Time and circumstance have taken their toll.

Monchi quits!

Since 2019-20 Chelsea, Manchester United, Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal have spent an average of €1.4bn on players. Over the same period, the remainder of the participants in the Premier League have averaged a total outlay of €537m. One club, Chelsea, has a spend in excess of €2bn, four other clubs, Arsenal, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur have a spend in excess of €1bn. One rule for them you say... hold my beer say the Premier League.

In August 2025, the Premier League fined Villa £125,000 for breaching multiball rules in five matches in 2024-25. Villa are also prohibited from operating the multiball system in its first three home league matches of 2025-26. The Premier League accuse Aston Villa’s ball boys of acting “deliberately and under instruction... with no other reason than to attempt to affect passages of play for the benefit of the Club.”

Villa look like they will be just below the PSR threshold for the three year period to 2024-25. They could even be as much as £10m to £20m below the PSR threshold if gate receipts and commerical income perform as well as has been suggested. Whatever the final outcome we know 2022-23's mammoth £120m loss is falling away and record revenues are still being delivered ahead of a third successive season in Europe.

Premier League Profit & Sustainability Rules (PSR) Explained