Yahoo News Chris Heck takes Aston Villa contracts swipe as he vows club now 'ready to kick door down'
Chris Heck says Aston Villa are ready to "kick the door down" on the Premier League 'big six' after securing several key deals to increase the club's revenue.
It's crucial that Villa improve off the pitch to help sustain their progress on it, as Unai Emery's side target a top four finish and a European trophy in the final weeks of the season. The Premier League's Profitability & Sustainability Rules mean Villa must catch up to the 'big six' clubs, whose revenue streams are far greater than most other sides in the division.
Villa say a loss of £119.6m for the 2022-23 accounts is “in line with the strategic business plan” and within PSR rules, which allows losses of up to £105m over three years. Along with Newcastle, who are owned by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, Villa are trying to form part of a 'great eight', but the rules determine that Villa will have to make money to spend more of it in transfer windows, or instead splash minimal amounts.
READ | Aston Villa confirm full ticketing details for Olympiacos trip in Europa Conference League
Heck and club chairman Nassef Sawiris have negotiated deals to bring on board Adidas as Villa's new kit manufacturer and Betano as the front-of-shirt sponsor. The deal with the online betting platform will be worth £40m over the next two years.
"What we’ve done in 11 months, we’ve cleared up a lot of, let’s say, not great contracts," Heck said at SportsPro Live 2024. "We have reinvented ourselves. We will be launching the next generation of our brand, coming up in a few weeks.
"We have doubled our front-of-shirt deal, plus we have doubled our sleeve deal, plus we have doubled our kit deal.
"I haven’t been talking much because honestly we have been working to get this accomplished and now it’s time to share that the big six, who we are chasing, quite frankly we are ready to kick the door down."
