Keith Wyness: Aston Villa will not fall off ‘financial cliff’
Chief executive Keith Wyness insists Villa would not be at risk of ‘falling off a financial cliff’ should they fail to win promotion next season.
Tightening Financial Fair Play regulations means the club is braced for a summer clearout of up to 10 players to help balance the books and avoid the risk of sanction from the Football League.
The rules allow permit Villa losses totalling no more than £83million over the past three years, an amount which will significantly reduce with each season they spend outside the top flight.
But Wyness insists that does not make promotion next season a financial necessity.
“We just want to go up because Villa need to be in the Premier League, there’s nothing more than that,” he said.
“There’s no imperative that we’re going to fall off a cliff if we don’t do it next year.
“Very far from it. We will carry on next year and try again, but of course we want to do it this year, absolutely.
“We can plan for the financial side. That’s not an issue for us.
“Financial Fair Play gets more serious next year but there are ways around that with property valuations and different bits of planning. It can be handled.”
Wyness recently revealed projections for this season’s accounts had put Villa ‘marginally’ over the FFP threshold but is confident they will be compliant with the rules when players sales and other commercial activities are taken into
account.
“We are planning for it and we are aware of it,” he said.
