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Aston Villa's summer 2026 transfer window: what happened and what it did to their squad-cost position

PSRwatch · 04 Sept 2026
Abstract football-finance illustration in emerald green and black, mixing stadium, pitch and balance-sheet motifs, used as the hero image for the PSRwatch article "Aston Villa's summer 2026 transfer window: what happened and what it did to their squad-cost position".
Quick answer

Aston Villa made 11 confirmed signings and 10 confirmed sales in the summer 2026 transfer window, a disclosed-fee net sales balance of £54.6m. PSRwatch estimates the window's net effect at £71.3m a year of squad cost, leaving the club at about 95.9% against the Premier League's 85% Green Threshold (Levy zone).

Confirmed signings
11 (2 undisclosed)

£252m disclosed

Confirmed sales
10

£307m disclosed

Net spend (disclosed fees)
-£54.6m
Squad-cost ratio
95.9%

Levy zone - PSRwatch estimate

The summer 2026 transfer window opened on 1 June 2026 and closed on 1 September 2026 at 7pm UK time. This review covers every confirmed permanent move in PSRwatch's transfer ledger for Aston Villa in that window. It then sets out what those deals do to the club's position under the Premier League's squad-cost rules for 2026/27. Every financial figure on this page is a PSRwatch estimate built from filed accounts and provider transfer data. None of it is an official Premier League calculation. Fees that were never made public stay labelled undisclosed rather than being guessed.

How the window went

Aston Villa finished the summer 2026 transfer window with 11 confirmed signings (£252m in disclosed fees, plus 2 undisclosed) and 10 confirmed sales (£307m disclosed). On disclosed fees alone, that makes them a net seller at £54.6m net sales. It is the 20th largest disclosed net spend of the 20 Premier League clubs this window. Undisclosed fees are never added to these totals. Where a fee was not made public, the deal is counted but not priced.

The headline arrival was Johan Manzambi at a disclosed £50.4m. That ranks the club 5th in the league for disclosed spending on signings this window.

Alongside the permanent business, the ledger records 7 loan moves. Loan deals are listed in the table below but kept out of the fee totals. The totals follow the same disclosed-fees-only rule as the PSRwatch Deadline Day hub.

Every confirmed deal

Player Move From/To Fee Contract Est. annual squad-cost change
Aaron Wan-Bissaka Loan in West Ham United Free / nominal 1 yr £4.5m/yr
Alejandro Garnacho Loan in Chelsea Free / nominal 1 yr £5.2m/yr
Andrés García Loan out Getafe CF Free / nominal 1 yr -£4.5m/yr
Brian Madjo In Aston Villa U21 Undisclosed 4 yrs £13.7m/yr
Donyell Malen Out AS Roma £21m - -£5.7m/yr
Emiliano Martínez Out Chelsea £7.4m - -£6m/yr
Enzo Barrenechea Out SL Benfica £10.1m - -£4.1m/yr
Ezri Konsa Out Arsenal FC £50.1m - -£11m/yr
George Hemmings In Aston Villa U21 Undisclosed 4 yrs £13.7m/yr
Ibrahim Mbaye In Paris Saint-Germain £46.2m 4 yrs £20m/yr
João Gomes In Wolverhampton Wanderers £33.6m 4 yrs £14.9m/yr
Joe Gauci Loan out Lincoln City Free / nominal 1 yr -£4.1m/yr
Johan Manzambi In SC Freiburg £50.4m 4 yrs £21.4m/yr
Kosta Nedeljkovic Loan out Rangers FC Free / nominal 1 yr -£4.5m/yr
Leon Bailey Out Olympiacos Piraeus £4.2m - -£4.3m/yr
Leon Goretzka In Bayern Munich Free / nominal 3 yrs £4.5m/yr
Lewis Dobbin Out Southampton FC £8.8m - -£4.7m/yr
Lucas Digne Out Paris Saint-Germain £5.9m - -£3.7m/yr
Matteo Ruggeri In Atlético de Madrid £21m 4 yrs £10.5m/yr
Modou Kéba Cissé In LASK £4.6m 4 yrs £4.8m/yr
Morgan Rogers Out Chelsea £116m - -£19m/yr
Nicolas Jackson In Chelsea £46.6m 4 yrs £20.1m/yr
Oliwier Zych Loan out Vitória Guimarães SC Free / nominal 1 yr -£4.1m/yr
Ollie Watkins Out Al-Hilal SFC £49.1m - -£8.1m/yr
Samuel Iling-Junior Loan out Bolton Wanderers Free / nominal 1 yr -£5.2m/yr
Taylor Harwood-Bellis In Southampton FC £24.5m 4 yrs £11.7m/yr
Youri Tielemans Out Manchester United £34.4m - -£9.3m/yr
Zion Suzuki In Parma Calcio 1913 £25.2m 4 yrs £11.6m/yr

The signings that move the needle

Johan Manzambi arrived from SC Freiburg for a disclosed £50.4m fee on a 4-year contract. Spread over the contract, the fee adds an estimated £13.2m a year of amortisation. Add wages of about £8.2m a year and the estimated squad-cost impact comes to about £21.4m a year. That is worth roughly 4.6 percentage points on Aston Villa's squad-cost ratio.

Nicolas Jackson arrived from Chelsea for a disclosed £46.6m fee on a 4-year contract. Spread over the contract, the fee adds an estimated £12.2m a year of amortisation. Add wages of about £7.9m a year and the estimated squad-cost impact comes to about £20.1m a year. That is worth roughly 4.3 percentage points on Aston Villa's squad-cost ratio.

Ibrahim Mbaye arrived from Paris Saint-Germain for a disclosed £46.2m fee on a 4-year contract. Spread over the contract, the fee adds an estimated £12.1m a year of amortisation. Add wages of about £7.8m a year and the estimated squad-cost impact comes to about £20m a year. That is worth roughly 4.3 percentage points on Aston Villa's squad-cost ratio.

Aston Villa also completed 2 signings with an undisclosed fee (Brian Madjo, George Hemmings). PSRwatch models these internally so the club's forecast stays complete. No invented fee ever appears in public totals.

The sales side

Morgan Rogers left for Chelsea for a disclosed £116m fee. The deal books an estimated £75.4m of profit over remaining book value. With the wages and amortisation off the books, the estimated squad-cost effect is about -£19m a year.

Ezri Konsa left for Arsenal FC for a disclosed £50.1m fee. The deal books an estimated £32.5m of profit over remaining book value. With the wages and amortisation off the books, the estimated squad-cost effect is about -£11m a year.

What it does to the squad-cost position

Adding up every deal whose effect can be responsibly estimated, the window's confirmed business comes to an estimated £71.3m a year of extra squad cost, worth about 15.2 percentage points on the ratio. The squad-cost ratio compares player wages, amortisation of transfer fees and related squad costs against football revenue plus net profit on player sales. Signings push the ratio up through wages and amortisation. Sales pull it down by taking both off the books.

PSRwatch's estimate puts Aston Villa at 95.9%, over the 85% Green Threshold. That means an estimated luxury-style levy on the overspend. It is a fine, not points. The club is still roughly £88.8m short of the 115% Red Threshold, where sporting sanctions begin.

What to watch next

The window is shut until January 2027. The squad-cost picture now moves with results, revenue and contract changes rather than fees. The next hard data point is the club's 2026/27 accounts filing. Until then, you can track the estimated position on the Aston Villa club page or stress-test a January signing in the transfer calculator. All 20 clubs are compared on the league rankings and in the summer window review.

Open the Aston Villa calculatorSee Aston Villa's spending room

Frequently asked questions

How much did Aston Villa spend in the summer 2026 window?

£252m in disclosed fees on 11 confirmed signings, plus 2 deals with undisclosed fees that PSRwatch does not price publicly. Disclosed sales brought in £307m.

Are Aston Villa at risk under the Premier League squad-cost rules?

PSRwatch's estimate puts Aston Villa at 95.9%, over the 85% Green Threshold. That means an estimated luxury-style levy on the overspend. It is a fine, not points. The club is still roughly £88.8m short of the 115% Red Threshold, where sporting sanctions begin.

What was Aston Villa's biggest signing of the window?

Johan Manzambi, at a disclosed £50.4m - the club's largest disclosed fee of the summer 2026 transfer window.

Methodology

PSRwatch figures are independent estimates built from filed accounts, provider transfer and wage data, and PSRwatch modelling. They are not official Premier League, EFL or UEFA calculations. Where a fee or wage is unconfirmed we say so, and undisclosed fees are never presented as real numbers.

Sources

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PSRwatch is independent. Figures are unofficial estimates from public filings, transfer data and PSRwatch modelling. They are not endorsed by the Premier League, EFL, UEFA or any club.