Villa lead the race, but at a cost

Villa are currently closest to Monaco with Morgan Rogers’ £117m (138m euros) move to Chelsea accounting for a significant chunk of their total. Ezri Konsa, Youri Tielemans and Lucas Digne were also among those to leave.

Their summer trading has also left them with the strongest positive transfer balance in the Premier League.

Villa have spent 160.5m euros, which leaves them 132.6m euros in profit on transfer dealings. That activity comes against a backdrop of financial pressure.

In June, Villa were fined 22.5m euros by Uefa for a significant breach of its squad-cost rule for 2025, with 15m euros of that amount suspended on the condition that the club continued to reduce its squad-cost ratio during 2026.

Figure caption,

‘It would appear he no longer wants to play for Villa’ – does Watkins want out?

The impact of losing several senior players was evident on the opening weekend, when Unai Emery’s side suffered a 4-0 defeat by Brighton.

Speaking afterwards, Gary Neville mentioned Villa looked as though they had had their “heart ripped out”, pointing to the experience lost through the departures of Rogers, Tielemans and Konsa.

Villa could yet move even closer to the record.

Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal have made several attempts to sign Ollie Watkins, with Villa reportedly rejecting an offer worth around 52m euros. Emery has already acknowledged that the England striker could leave, although the two clubs remain apart on valuation.

Man City could yet overtake them

Manchester City’s position has shifted following Wednesday’s signing of Ayyoub Bouaddi. They have generated 278.5m euros from sales so far, with the departures of players including Savio, Tijjani Reijnders, Rodri, James Trafford, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake.

Bouaddi’s arrival takes City’s spending to 273.7m euros, leaving them with a positive transfer balance of 4.8m euros.

Further departures could quickly change the picture again. Tottenham have agreed a loan deal to sign Omar Marmoush, with an obligation to make the move permanent for £60m (58m euros) next summer. That fee would therefore count towards City’s 2027-28 transfer income rather than this season’s figures.

Nico Gonzalez is also expected to leave, while Jack Grealish could yet be another departure before the deadline. Grealish spent last season on loan at Everton, who remain interested, although the winger has viewed Enzo Maresca replacing Pep Guardiola as manager as a fresh start at City. His contract runs until June 2027.

A permanent sale of Gonzalez, and possibly Grealish, could still significantly increase City’s 2026-27 income.

Their ability to sell at such a level is particularly significant given the scale of their midfield rebuild. City have already signed Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest for 135m euros. They also remain interested in Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez.

Newcastle’s three-sale windfall

Newcastle have reached 275.5m euros in sales with the bulk of that coming from three major departures.

Sandro Tonali joined Tottenham for 108m euros, Bruno Guimaraes moved to Arsenal for 87.5m euros and Anthony Gordon signed for Barcelona for 80m euros.

Together, those deals have transformed Newcastle’s summer balance sheet.

They have spent 197m euros, which leaves them 78.5m euros in profit.

Only Villa and Nottingham Forest currently have a larger positive transfer balance among Premier League clubs.

Six Premier League clubs are currently in transfer profit

The volume of sales across the division is reflected in the wider transfer balances.

Six Premier League clubs currently have a positive balance, according to Transfermarkt:

At the other end of the scale, Chelsea have the largest negative balance at 242.3m euros after spending 407.95m euros and receiving 165.65m euros.

Tottenham are next at 189.15m euros in the red, followed by Arsenal at 180.95m euros with several days until the transfer window closes on 1 September.

Brighton continue to set trading benchmark

Brighton’s sales figures illustrate a different approach.

Over the past five seasons, Brighton have spent 665.4m euros on players and received 715.4m euros in transfer fees, leaving them with a positive transfer balance of about 50m euros.

According to Transfermarkt, they are the only current Premier League club to have made a cumulative transfer profit across that five-season period. Aston Villa are the next closest to break-even, with an overall balance of -10.02m euros.

That underlines how consistently Brighton have combined significant player sales with reinvestment, rather than relying on one unusually profitable window.

Related topics

  • Premier League
  • Football
  • Football Transfers
  • Manchester City
  • Aston Villa
  • Brighton & Hove Albion
  • Newcastle United
  • Get news, insight and fan views on your Premier League team
    • Published
      8 June
    A graphic of Premier League players from every team in the division in 2025-26 season, with the Premier League trophy in front of them.
  • All your football quizzes in one place
    Quiz logo

More on this story

  • Premier League index
  • Premier League table
  • Premier League fixtures

✔ today silver rate

✔ 2026 winter olympics

✔ chat gtp

✔ silver rate today

✔ silver rate today live

✔ 2030 winter olympics

Read More

Sports

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *