Expert: Aston Villa set for January clear-out amid points deduction concern

Aston Villa are planning to cash in on some of their fringe players in the January transfer window, according to their former scout.

Mick Brown, who remains very well-connected at Villa Park and also worked for the likes of Man United, West Ham and Blackburn, exclusively told Football Insider that the club are desperate to avoid a difficult financial situation.

This comes after they came close to breaching the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules in the summer and were forced to sell players to help balance the books.

Nottingham Forest and Everton both received points deductions as a result of their own breaches, and clubs including Villa are now desperate not to suffer the same fate.

The Villans are cautious of overspending in the market and finding themselves in a tricky situation, and are expected to take measures against the possibility.

As a result, they will look to raise funds through player sales in January before reinvesting to strengthen Unai Emery’s first-team squad.

Aston Villa to cash in on players amid points deduction fear

Football Insider revealed on 17 November that Diego Carlos is one of the players on the chopping block at Villa Park after Emery gave the green light to his exit.

Now, Brown, who has a wealth of experience in top-level player recruitment and spent over a decade at Man United during their most successful period, insisted that Villa’s priority will be to raise money before their spending can begin.

“We know they were in a tricky financial position,” he told Football Insider.

“So, of course, they want to avoid getting into that position again, or possibly even worse than that.

“When you see clubs like Everton and Forest getting points deductions, you’re always desperate to avoid that happening to you.

“So I wouldn’t expect them to be overly free-spending in January.

“Having said that, there are ways around it, and one of those would be to sell some of the players who aren’t necessarily big parts of the squad.

“That goes for all of the clubs in that situation, Newcastle and Everton for example.

“They’ve never really been afraid to sell players at Villa, they’re never reluctant to cash in if they feel it will benefit them, and this is that type of situation.”

In other news, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall: ‘Top clubs lining up’ to sign Chelsea star.

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