As they overperform on the pitch, it would be ignorant not to look at the restrictions Emery has been working under.
Since he was appointed in 2022 only Wolves, Brentford, Brighton and Everton have a lower net spend than Villa’s £73.5m.
That is down to the club needing to walk the financial tightrope and comply with profit and sustainability rules (PSR), making their overperformance even more impressive.
As Villa celebrated reaching the Champions League in May 2024 Emery and head of football operations Damian Vidagany sat at the club’s end-of-season dinner worried.
They were concerned how the club would avoid a PSR breach, and the club eventually rushed through the £43m sale of Douglas Luiz to Juventus.
Jacob Ramsey was sold to Newcastle for £40m last summer and there is an expectation another star could go this year.
Morgan Rogers has excelled since joining from Middlesbrough for £16m two years ago, and a strong World Cup for England would allow Villa to demand close to £100m.
Champions League qualification strengthens Villa’s hand, but selling a player every year is the easiest way to comply with the rules.
The club reported a profit of £17m for 2024-25, the season in which they played in the Champions League, compared with a loss of nearly £90m in the previous year.
It is clear how vital Champions League football is to Villa, having lost £120m for the year 2022-23.
The drive to increase revenue at the club – as much as it may have alienated some fans by high ticket prices – has helped raise that to £378m.
Work to rebuild the North Stand has begun, with work expected to be completed by the end of next year, and it would increase Villa Park’s capacity to just over 50,000, while the new Warehouse entertainment venue at the stadium has been finished.
All will help Villa’s matchday revenue as they look to bridge the gap to their Champions League rivals.
But it has not stopped them trying to play catch-up this season. A move for Conor Gallagher ended with Tottenham able to stump up the cash to sign the Atletico Madrid midfielder, despite Villa spending months on the deal.
Villa have been unhappy having to work within Premier League and Uefa financial rules, which are different.
England’s top-flight clubs have voted to move to a system called squad-cost ratio (SCR) next season which allows teams to spend 85% of their income on player costs, although Uefa’s SCR spending limit is 70%.
Vidagany has previously said football needs financial regulation, but he does not believe the separate domestic and European rules work together.
Villa have been operating with the handbrake on, but Champions League qualification, for the second time in three years, should allow that to be lifted.