Keith Wyness: Aston Villa have landed '£4m' windfall after confirmed news

Aston Villa’s former chief Keith Wyness has revealed the club have already banked around £4million in prize money from the Champions League this season.

Speaking on the new edition of Football Insider’s Inside Track podcast, the 66-year-old – who served as CEO at Villa Park between 2016 and 2018 and now runs a football consultancy advising elite clubs – claimed Villa’s new commercial chief Adrian Filby will be looking to capitalise on any success the club have in Europe.

Filby confirmed in a LinkedIn post on 30 September he has joined the West Midlands giants as their new chief commercial officer after previously spending 21 years over two spells in a similar role at Celtic.

One of his biggest tasks will likely be securing a new front-of-shirt deal, with Unai Emery’s side’s qualification – and early success in the Champions League – expected to provide a boost to any talks with blue-chip brands.

Villa have picked up six points from their opening two Champions League group stage games, with their latest victory coming in a 1-0 win over Bayern Munich.

Football Insider revealed on 3 October the West Midlands club could earn almost £50million if they manage to make it through to the knockout rounds of the competition.

Aston Villa will look to capitalise on Champions League success

Wyness insisted Villa chiefs will now be looking to find new ways to make the Champions League even more financially successful for them.

He told Football Insider‘s Inside Track podcast: “I don’t think the Champions League aspect has got much to do with Filby’s appointment.

“Most of the Champions League stuff is Uefa sponsorship anyway, so I don’t really think that’s going to help.

“There has got to be ways where that will be of some use, but I don’t think that’s the primary reason he’s there because Villa have got to do more themselves on the ground with the local fanbase.

“They had a very bad start with the ticket pricing issues for this particular year.

“They have got to repair that and find other ways to make the Champions League even more successful.

“Although with the wins they have had and the results they have had, particularly against Bayern Munich, which was fantastic, I think there is already £4million in the bank from two wins so far.

“That’s great news for Villa.”

In other news, Aston Villa chief faces “rude awakening” after Celtic reveal.

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