Aston Villa chief executive Christian Purslow has revealed that the club are confident of complying with FFP regulations even after their huge losses.

The West Midlands club announced a £36.1m pre-tax loss for the 2017-18 season earlier in the week and it was also revealed that they had a wage bill of over £73m for that time too.

That was under former owner Tony Xia, with Villa losing the play-off final to Fulham in May.

With the club recording significant losses in the previous years too, it has sparked serious fears that Villa could be hit with a serious sanction for breaching FFP rules.

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However, the Express & Star explain how Purslow feels that won't be the case, although he did admit it will be a challenge.

"The directors are actively seeking to implement actions to avoid future breaches of financial fair play. The directors believe they will remain compliant with the EFL profit and sustainability rules for the 2018-19 season."

The report also states that player sales are one of the options for the club to remain compliant with the rules, with star man Jack Grealish the obvious asset for Villa in terms of what funds he would bring in.

The Verdict

This outlines clearly just how reckless Xia and the previous regime were. They essentially gambled on promotion and it backfired.

It leaves Villa in a very difficult position and whilst you can understand Purslow wanting to reassure fans, the reality is the situation looks bleak.

Providing they don't win promotion, sales in the summer seem inevitable and there won't be much money to reinvest - it will be a total rebuilding job for Dean Smith.

Thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.