Reliable reporter drops worrying Ramsey news he’s heard out of Aston Villa

In recent years, Aston Villa have cashed in on multiple academy graduates for handsome fees – sales which can be written off as pure profit in their books, helping them to comply with Financial Fair Play rules.

In 2022, they offloaded Carney Chukwuemeka to Chelsea for a fee of around £20m, and 12 months on, they banked more than £12m from Aaron Ramsey’s move to Burnley. Cameron Archer’s switch to Sheffield United, another newly-promoted Premier League side, was a further £18m boost for the coffers.

Despite that, Villa have work to do to ensure they comply with the league’s Profit and Sustainability Rules. It’s been reported that Unai Emery may have to part with a first-team player before 30 June, the end of the financial year, to keep the club on the right side of the line.

Villa face prospect of Ramsey sale

The I’s chief football correspondent Sam Cunningham reports that Villa’s wage-to-revenue ratio stood at 92% last year, 12% more than UEFA will allow from next season. Villa are in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since the 1980s, but the associated windfall won’t necessarily solve their problems.

To reduce that wage bill and boost their profits, Villa may have to sell the jewel of their academy in Jacob Ramsey, who’s attracting interest from top-flight competitors Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United, with Cunningham reporting there’s a “good chance” he is sold.

Ramsey is one of the league’s most promising midfielders

Ramsey may only have started seven league games this season, but he’s only been available for 15, and Villa fans won’t need any reminders of how special a talent he really is.

Voted young player of the season and players’ player of the season in 2021/22, he was then named the league’s best academy graduate last term after notching 13 direct goal contributions.

The 22-year-old has played 16 times for England at under-21 level, including three appearances on the road to European Championships glory last summer, and looks destined to be a full international for his country in the future.

In a sense, though, this is the price of success for a club like Villa. If you want to spend like a Champions League club – and they rank between Man City and Liverpool in the five-year net spend table, despite selling Jack Grealish for £100m in 2021 – then you need to sell like one too. Ramsey isn’t the only player who could go, but because he didn’t cost a penny, he’s the outstanding candidate at this stage.