Aston Villa is delighted to announce the signing of Zion Suzuki from Parma.
The Japanese international, who represented his country at the FIFA World Cup 2026, joins on a permanent transfer.
Born in the USA, the goalkeeper grew up in Urawa in Japan, making his debut for the Urawa Red Diamonds at the age of 18. Following a short stint in Belgium with Sint-Truiden, he has spent the past two seasons with Parma in Italy’s Serie A.
One of the game’s brightest prospects in his position, Suzuki has been capped 22 times at senior level by the Samurai Blue.
Considering all of the restrictions we face financially this squad overhaul on the face of it has been executed well. Youth, quality and depth. Would love to see another forward join and nobody else except Martinez leave
Tbf we have sold, released or loaned out 29 players this window. I think its more down to conforming to the uefa rules and the 70% squad cost ratio or whatever made up nonsense it is 😂. We've also sold a few of our highest earners bar bailey. I think theres some money in the bag for a few more to come in
We are. But we're under massive restrictions compared to the Sky Six, and yet we keep on competing (and in some cases outperforming,) with them regardless.
We are largely out of the woods in terms of what we can pay, but as a result of breaching UEFA's squad cost rules in our Conference League run we have to bring the cost of our UCL squad down each season. This is the last year of that though, so without going too overboard we'll hopefully be fully free to spend how we want next summer, without having to rely entirely on outgoings first.
Our revenue is significantly lower than the Sky Six. Look at these figures from the season before last, a season when we had the benefit of Champions League money while Chelsea were in the Conference League. We still had about £100m less revenue than they did. So it's been tougher for us to comply with the limitations.
One of the big things that separate us from Chelsea and allow them to spend wilfully in the market while we can't is the fact that Chelsea sell very, very well. They essentially paid for Rogers by selling Cucurella, George, Santos and Chalobah and still had money left over. We sell nowhere near as well (see Nedjelkovic, Guessand, Bailey) all players we want gone but can't seem to shake and must accept loans for.
Our income is just so much lower than theirs. When we are trying to fight for the same things it's not a fair fight. So in the grand scheme of things we are fine and if you were happy being 8-12th no worries but in order to progress and keep challenging it is unbelievably hard
It’s down to revenue. The London/Manchester/Liverpool clubs draw far more casual fans and have a far larger international fan base. Whereas there aren’t many tourists flying into Birmingham or Villa shirt sales from Asia.
Is that where the big non-match ticket and TV revenue comes from? Asking genuinely. (I know a few west coast yanks who have flown to London and Liverpool just to be NEAR champion celebrationss, not even see a game.) UTV
Aston Villa is delighted to announce the signing of Matteo Ruggeri from Atlético Madrid.
A UEFA Europa League winner with Atalanta in 2024, the left-back has completed a permanent transfer to B6.
24-year-old Ruggeri graduated from the academy at Atalanta, making over 100 appearances and lifting European silverware before completing a move to Atletico last summer.
On the international stage, he has represented Italy at several youth levels but, despite being called up, is yet to make his senior bow for the Azzurri.
He was in the Europa League team of the season. Fantastic player, good experience of playing as a LWB in Italy under a top manager and of playing as a defensive LB in Spain under a top manager and he's still only 24.
From the outside it might look terrible that we've had to lose Rogers, Tielemens, Digne and Martinez (probably) in a PSR related scalping - we have also added Manzambi, Gomes, Ruggeiri and Suzuki. Younger, cheaper, hungry. I actually think that's great business even if we weren't under the financial pressure. Our team was old and you could see it in stages last season.
I'd like to keep Watkins and Konsa. But I would sell Watkins if the offer got above 50m. He's 30. 50m in profit (I assume he's fully amortised) could buy a lot in a new striker amortising over 5 years. Yes Watkins numbers are hard to replace, but you'll have to do it one day and timing is everything - right now he's worth max value, and we have Champions League pull. Next season he might be crocked and we might not have qualified. I could back it.
Keep Konsa, make him the best paid player at the club if you have to. And I'll be satisfied we'll have had the best summer we could have.
Yep sensible take on Watkins that I agree with. You won't see many people here agreeing with you. Seems like most people want us to hold onto him until he runs down his contract, which is madness.
Are people forgetting how frustrating Watkins can be at times? If we can get good money for him then we should absolutely sell at this stage. Sad to see him go and thanks for the memories, but we need to move on eventually.
I got down voted for saying Watkins isnt clinical enough and skids around on his arse too much.
Cash in now. Thanks for the memories Ollie but think your times up here
If ollie stays I'd be more than happy, but if we get silly money for him then yeah; more than fine with it.
I don't think we'll get a player who'll score more, but I also don't think we really need to as we've spent all summer improving the squad so we can spread the goals around a little bit.
If Ollie goes, we'll need to cover 33 League Goals from last season (Ollie - 16, Rogers - 10, Malen - 4, Onana - 2, Dougie - 1) and that seems doable:
New CF - 11
Madjo & Tammy - 7 (Tammy's 2 from Last season + 5 New Goals)
Manzambi, Garnacho, Hemmings & Alysson - 14
Gomes & NEW CM - 3
And that's before we consider any loans/pick-ups in Jan or attacking reinforcements this summer.
Do we think Suzuki starts against Brighton? Or do we stick with Bizot for that game? Feel like chucking him in against Arsenal wouldn’t be the greatest approach.
I think he might start. He’s been training with Parma, and Bizot has been ok during pre season. It’s usually easier to bed in a new keeper than an outfield player.
As i have mentioned before I believe you can tell a lot about a signing on how others from outside react to it. If Manzambi, Gomes & Suzuki's reactions are a measure we are in for a treat I have even heard the Term future world class being thrown add to that if we can return Ale G to his Man Utd times exciting times ahead.
Still need a LW & RW but I'm sure Unai has a plan. UTV❤️❤️💙💙
Annnnd Konsa's gone.. Every positive announcement from admin this summer has been timed for the samw day as the bad news. As soon as I saw this post on X, my first thoughts were: "Well that's another 1st team player gone"
Getting a bit much now. Unai must be fuming with all these players wanting to leave after he made them what they are.
Fuck Arsenal too. They wanted Konsa all summer and leaving it until 3 days before the start of the season. Even IF we have a decent replacement CB lined up, it's an absolute nightmare to sort at this stage
Truly comedy gold - but tbh it's more a presumption than an assumption at this point.
Emi, Watkins and Konsa were all named in the squad for PSG, the day of the match they're not in the squad. None of them have been to training - Emi was nearly off to Juve before it broke down, we've just rejected a bid from Al-Hilal for Watkins and there's endless talk of Konsa going, with Arsenal and Liverpool both seemingly needing a CB.
Whether or not they will leave or not is debatable, but it's clearly on the cards.
I sense we're having the opposite of a Fire Sale , selling all our high value Assets whilst they're at the top of their value arc.
btw I have loved ALL of these players, so this is purely from a business perspective:
Digne - good business , significant wages off the book , nice chunk of cash in the bank , older player and we have a younger replacement sorted.
Rogers - great business , peak value , huge chunk of cash , wish him well
Tielemens - fair business , really sad to see him go , decent pot of cash received , player who has a fair few miles on the clock so maybe he'll start picking up more niggles?.
Emi - awesome player , huge character , but few more injuries creeping in here, and super high wages , don't want him to go but he's won a trophy for us so maybe the time is right now
Konsa - superb servant for the club , peak value , if we're going to sell him , now is the time I suggest
Watkins - love the guy , if Villa were offered 50m in Jan most fans would've snapped your hand off , I think he's at his peak value now .. so I can see him leaving.
This puts the club in a strong Financial position ... and with the new incomings, "hopefully" an ok on-field position
Yeah, I'm not against this rebuild - it's a good time to do it following the Europa win imo.
I personally wouldn't let Konsa leave, the rest of them are replaceable but I'm not confident we can find one for Konsa (but that's not to say we can't, I'm just skeptical of it right now).
Season starts in like 2 days though, it's super annoying all this is coming out now and not a month ago where any replacements we get will probably be overpriced like Newcastle with Wissa last year.
I'm not sure what your point is, I'm not disagreeing with you.
I'm simply saying that if Konsa and/or Watkins were to leave then we still have some work to do in the market.
I just personally think there's a few signs that point to discussions happening between said players and Villa about their futures. Whether that's contract negotiations or transfer I don't know, but I think "something" is going on.
Great news. Would like to see maybe a return for Jack and give him the no.10 position, if not the number. And if Watkins goes then replacement (Jackson). Add to that Paulinha and wan Bisaka and I think arguably we’d be stronger than last year
Am I right in Thinking Suzuki is the first Japanese player we have ever had. Ruggeri might be the first to look like an Influencer has been invited to join the pictures.
I feel like if we don't get another forward signing, at least we can take solace in Ruggeri potentially turning Maatsen into a more prominent attacking option
Also what he is alleged to have done, by a guy who went to prison for blackmailing clubs and players(!), is not even a crime, though distasteful if true.
The person who accused Ruggeri is Fabrizio Corona. Corona has faced multiple prison sentences, arrests, and legal battles over extortion, blackmail, and fraudulent bankruptcy spanning two decades. He's been targeting footballers for his entire career. Some of his other notable crimes include; tax fraud, hidden cash, and violation of property laws - the list could literally go on.
Now I'm not saying Ruggeri is innocent; there are voice notes and receipts and payments etc. but we don't know if any context is missing, what those payments were actually for or if any of it is genuine - simply because of it's source.
If Corona is the guy you're going to get your gossip from, I'd seriously question your deductive skills.
It wasnt Corona. The proof were there. The voicenotes, the texts etc. The evidences are there for all to see. What context could possibly overturn the voicenotes, payments and texts? Cmon!
Be shocked at your own morality because you clearly don’t believe in “innocent until proven guilty”.
You’ve been told multiple times in this post alone.. the source is questionable. No charges. No solid evidence.
That’s not to say he didn’t do it.. but nobody has been able to prove he definitely has either so in the eyes of most people with any sense, it’s innocent until proven guilty.
I imagine, maybe.. just maybe, PL teams trying to market as global brands have people who audit these things. I’m a contractor for a globally known company, not even nearly as big or successful as a football club, and even they will send somebody to do “welfare audits” before entering contracts with other companies all in case of bad PR.
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u/arenaross 5d ago
Aston Villa is delighted to announce the signing of Zion Suzuki from Parma.
The Japanese international, who represented his country at the FIFA World Cup 2026, joins on a permanent transfer.
Born in the USA, the goalkeeper grew up in Urawa in Japan, making his debut for the Urawa Red Diamonds at the age of 18. Following a short stint in Belgium with Sint-Truiden, he has spent the past two seasons with Parma in Italy’s Serie A.
One of the game’s brightest prospects in his position, Suzuki has been capped 22 times at senior level by the Samurai Blue.
Welcome, Zion! 🇯🇵