Explained: Why Aston Villa, Everton and Chelsea are engaged in a transfer triangle

You could be forgiven for thinking that there are only three teams active in the transfer window at the moment - Aston Villa, Chelsea, and Everton.

For the last couple of weeks there has been a seemingly endless amount of rumours, reports, and indeed signings involving the trio of clubs - with Villa at the heart of it all.

From Jhon Duran, Omari Kellyman and Ian Maatsen, to Lewis Dobbin, Conor Gallagher and Tim Iroegbunam, the clubs have been very active around each other's players.

It seems that is not a coincidental situation and the dealings between the clubs are very deliberate - but why?

READ: Emery is 'on the phone everyday' as Villa ramp up transfer plans

READ: Villa set to bank share of £118m windfall as transfer plans accelerate

The Mirror's Felix Keith has taken a closer look at the situation and why it's an indication of how financial fair play is changing the game. Here is a section of Felix's strongly-worded comment piece.

He writes: "The summer transfer window opened for business on June 14 and already we have seen a flurry of deals being announced by Premier League clubs. Aston Villa are signing Ian Maatsen from Chelsea for £37.5million and Lewis Dobbin from Everton for around £10m, while selling Tim Iroegbunam to the Toffees for £9m. Chelsea are buying Omari Kellyman from Villa for £19m.

"After a very quiet January transfer window, in which just £100m was spent across the Premier League, it seems on the surface that big spending is back.

"But in reality, these deals are being struck more for accounting reasons than sporting ones – and that is a problem. Profit and sustainability rules were introduced to try and curb overspending, which was putting clubs in peril and yet, by a quirk of fate, they are now actually encouraging unnecessary deals. Kellyman, for example, has played just six times for Villa's first team - and most football fans would not have heard of him until recently - yet he is deemed by Chelsea to be worth £19m.

"Trading homegrown players for potentially inflated fees allows clubs to balance the books by using amortisation to spread the cost over the length of the new player’s contract. With the Premier League’s financial year ending on June 30, the race is on to get some transfers done and avoid the risk of points penalties, like those dished out to Everton and Nottingham Forest.

"'We've got more accountants than we've got sporting people at Manchester United,' the club’s owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe moaned in an interview with Bloomberg last week. It was meant as a criticism of the Premier League, which he believes is unfairly reining in clubs from spending whatever they like. The petrochemicals billionaire wants less regulation to allow him to splash his cash on his latest plaything, but really the current amortisation spree lays bare the issues.

"The players at the heart of these transfers are not at fault. Currently, sides are allowed to lose a maximum of £105m over three seasons. Those rules will remain in effect for the 2024/25 season, but 16 clubs voted to change them for the following season. Out with the PSR in with the Squad Cost Rules (SCR) and Top to Bottom Anchoring Rules (TBA) on a trial basis.

"For those not up to date on such things, the Premier League said earlier this month that SCR will regulate on-pitch spending to 85 per cent of a club’s football revenue and net profit/loss on player sales, while TBA is a league-level anchor linked to football costs, based on a multiple of the forecast lowest central distribution for that season.

"Having voted to give them a go, you can bet clubs will soon be moaning about them.The current situation is a shambles and a sad indictment of the wonky priorities of those in power in the Premier League. The Football Governance Bill, which will establish an independent football regulator, cannot come soon enough."

What do you think of the flurry of transfer activity from Aston Villa? Let us know what you think in the comments below

Click here to join our Aston Villa WhatsApp Community to receive the latest news and transfer headlines.