Aston Villa

Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

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Aston Villa head into the Super Cup after a summer of change.

The record exit of Morgan Rogers to Chelsea along with Youri Tielemans' move to Manchester United and Lucas Digne's switch to Paris St-Germain represents the dawn of a new era.

Of course, May's Europa League win over Freiburg also brought a new chapter but for Villa's longevity and consistency the summer will have longer-term impacts.

Villa had been so consistent under Unai Emery, certainly in terms of the squad's make up and selection, and Wednesday's Super Cup with PSG will give another glimpse into how Emery can take them forward.

In Salzburg it is the ideal game to test how Villa go forward against the best, especially ahead of the start of the Champions League next month.

There is no Johan Manzambi, the record buy is still recovering from the knee injury he suffered with Switzerland at the World Cup. There is however the potential for a first competitive glance at Alejandro Garnacho since his loan move from Chelsea.

Joao Gomes, John McGinn, Ross Barkley and Boubacar Kamara complete the midfield options, the lack of depth highlighting why Villa are pursuing Bayern Munich's Joao Palhinha.

It all leads into an intriguing game where the result may be secondary, behind seeing how Villa gel and adapt.

Villa will be competing in the Super Cup for the first time since winning it in 1982 but Emery has not won the competition in three attempts, losing twice with Sevilla and once with Villarreal.

While this may be a night where looking to Villa's future is most important, you can be assured Emery's demanding nature will want to add the trophy to May's Europa League.

Nizaar Kinsella
Football reporter

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Aston Villa are in talks over a move for Bayern Munich and Portugal midfielder Joao Palhinha.

The 31-year-old became a target for Unai Emery after Amadou Onana suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury to his right knee while playing for Belgium at the World Cup.

Sources close to Palhinha say he is yet to make a decision, but he is open to a move to Villa Park which is regarded as among his best options.

Bayern are willing to let him leave two years after signing him for £47.4m from Fulham. He was on loan at Tottenham last season but the club opted against triggering their £26m option to buy.

"Joao Palhinha is a very good player who would fit our plans," Aston Villa's director of football Damian Vidagany told German outlet Bild on Friday.

"We are in talks but there is currently no agreement. If something were to happen, it would always be based on the great respect we have for Bayern."

The comments come after Villa suffered a 2-1 loss to Bayern in a pre-season friendly, in which Palhinha featured as a substitute, in Hong Kong over the weekend.

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It's the battle of the European champions when Aston Villa face Paris Saint-Germain in the Super Cup on Wednesday in Salzburg.

PSG, who are the holders after beating Tottenham 4-3 on penalties last year, will bid to become the fourth team to successfully retain the trophy.

This is Aston Villa's second appearance in the Super Cup, previously beating Barcelona 3-1 on aggregate in 1983 (0-1 away, 3-0 home).

And whilst Unai Emery is widely considered a European competition mastermind, he has less luck in the Super Cup.

He has lost all three of his appearances in this cup, including against Luis Enrique's Barcelona in 2015 whilst managing Sevilla.

That came a year after Sevilla lost to Barcelona, but before losing on penalties to Chelsea with Villarreal in 2021.

Villa go into this match looking to break the trend of Champions League holders coming out victorious too as the Europa League holders have won just once in the last 13 seasons.

Aston Villa and Roma have expressed an interest in signing Brazil forward Endrick, 22, on loan from Real Madrid. (AS - in Spanish), external

Rangers are exploring a deal for 20-year-old right-back Kosta Nedeljkovic from Villa. (Daily Record), external

The Scottish side are considering signing the Serbian defender on a season-long loan. (The Herald), external

Villa's Rory Wilson, 20, is among the targets for Swedish side Sirius alongside rivals IFK Gothenburg. The Scottish striker also has options in England and Spain. (Daily Record), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Monday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

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Luis Diaz scored the decisive goal as Aston Villa were beaten by Bayern Munich in their pre-season friendly in Hong Kong.

German champions Bayern took the lead in the first half through Kim Min-jae's close-range effort.

Substitute Diaz doubled their lead with a fine curled finish which went in off the underside of the crossbar.

Villa pulled one back late on through Joao Gomes' well-taken finish from just outside the box.

The Brazil international joined Villa from neighbours Wolves last month in a £38m deal.

Tammy Abraham almost equalised but his header was well saved by Manuel Neuer.

Bayern played several youngsters, while regular starters Michael Olise and Harry Kane did not travel as they recover from the World Cup.

Sunderland are in pole position to sign Mozambique winger Geny Catamo from Sporting Lisbon, with Aston Villa, Brentford and Everton among the clubs with an eye on the 25-year-old. (Teamtalk), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

Follow the gossip column on BBC Sport

Aston Villa have reached an agreement with Atletico Madrid for Italian left-back Matteo Ruggeri, 24. (Marca - in Spanish), external

Villa are prepared for a fresh bid from Arsenal for England defender Ezri Konsa, 28, as they try to agree a new contract to keep him at Villa Park. (Mail), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

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Nick Mashiter
Football reporter

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The midfielder has been highly rated at Villa Park for some time and is considered the best of their recent crop of talent to come through the academy.

He made his first-team debut at Arsenal last season and made four appearances for Unai Emery overall, including two in the Europa League.

A strong start to pre-season, including a goal in the defeat by Real Sociedad, underlines the 19-year-old's potential.

Read more on youngsters to watch at each Premier League club this season

Katharine Sharpe and Simon Casson
BBC Sport senior journalists

The 2025-26 Premier League and Championship seasons included the introduction of squad-cost ratio rules on a shadow basis, testing to see how a spending cap for squad costs set at a percentage of a club's total revenues might work.

These SCR regulations have now been permanently implemented for the 2026-27 season, replacing previous profit and sustainability rules (PSR).

Uefa has a 70% SCR cap for European competitions, so Premier League clubs who qualified for Europe fall in line with this limit.

Clubs who did not qualify for Europe, and so are only taking part in domestic competitions, are capped at 85% of their total revenue.

However, clubs can spend above the 85% limit by using a multi-year rolling allowance of 30%. This allows them to invest ahead of revenue and variance or sporting underperformance.

Every club will start this coming season on 85% + 30% allowance, so effectively 115%.

If a club spends 105% on their squad in 2026-27, it means they have used 20% of their allowance, and for 2027-28 their maximum spend before potential sporting sanction is 95%.

If a club spend less than 85%, they can increase the allowance again to the maximum of 30%.

Spending above 85% but under the allowance results in a financial penalty, whereas going over both the 85% and the allowance will land the club a fixed six-point deduction which increases by one point for every £6.5m spent over the 115%.

'Anchoring' was also trialled in 2025-26, which meant any club's spending could not exceed a multiple of income earned by the bottom-placed club - however this was rejected at a vote of Premier League clubs.

SCR was approved by a vote of 14 clubs to six, and was introduced alongside sustainability and systemic resilience (SSR) regulations.

SSR involves three tests that are applied throughout the season:

Working capital test - assesses short-term cash resources

Liquidity test - assesses medium-term liquidity and resilience

Positive equity test -assesses long-term financial health

The aim of the SCR and SSR regulations is to stop the richest owners providing endless funds to their clubs to sign new players, as any money injected this way does not count as seasonal revenue.

They will also aim to prevent clubs from overspending and accruing unmanageable losses.

Read more about the rules here

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We asked whether you would like to see Jack Grealish back at Villa Park, five years after the winger left his boyhood club to join Manchester City in a £100m deal.

Reports have linked Grealish with several clubs but as the process plays out, here are some of your comments:

Matt: It would be absolutely lovely to have him back, but the priority has to be being as efficient as possible with the money we have and I don't think he is going to provide enough of a return on the pitch for the outlay. If Unai Emery decides it works though, I will be over the moon.

Richard: The romantic in me says let's bring Grealish home. The cynic in me says he was a great part of Villa's past, even a legend, but we have to look towards the future and keep trying to improve. The rational in me says if the price is right and the wage demands are low, then what have we got to lose?

Lewis: I personally wouldn't have our starboy back because we are a different team to what we were with him. We built our squad around him, we tried to be a one-man team and it didn't work. Now we have built a team that has won a European trophy and fights in the Champions League. In my opinion, all of the current players are more of a legend than he would ever have been.

Louise: I personally think him returning would be a good thing in the long run. We sold him at the right time, he has matured a lot since becoming a dad and Manchester City got a lot of his silly partying period on their watch. He really looked like he wanted to play at Everton, so surely coming back to the club he supports and loves would only intensify that. I definitely think he is worth a punt and Emery would get the best out of him again. Yes he is a bit injury prone, but so are quite a few of our squad. He would be a good influence on some of our younger talent too.

Mike: I'd have him back in a heartbeat. He loves the club, he will give his all, and we need someone who can carry the ball now Morgan Rogers has gone. An impact substitute on reduced wages, for sure!

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It had been a long 206-day wait for Boubacar Kamara on the touchline.

The 26-year-old had been sidelined since the 10 January 2026 after coming off in the ninth minute in the 2-1 FA Cup third round victory against Tottenham.

Eight months prior to suffering an injury against Spurs, he had missed eight months in 2024 following a tear of his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

However, his return in the 3-1 victory over BG Pathum United in Bangkok is one Unai Emery will welcome.

In the 17 games he started during the 2025-26 season, Emery's side won 12, lost two and drew three.

With 21 competitive league games remaining in the season, Villa's form without Kamara was stark - seven wins, five draws and nine losses.

The West Midlands club's win percentage dropped from 70.59% with Kamara in the starting XI, to 33.33% without the French international.

Kamara has represented France on five occasions whilst being at Villa, but he has not played for his national side since November 2023.

Since joining Villa in 2022 from Marseille on a free transfer, injuries have slowed Kamara's Premier League progress, yet his influence on the Villa squad is something not to underestimate.

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BBC Radio WM presenter Daz Hale says Jack Grealish "would be an asset" if he returned to Aston Villa, despite some notable drawbacks.

Grealish left boyhood club Villa in 2021 to join Manchester City for a then British record £100m, going on to win three Premier League titles, the Champions League and the FA Cup before falling out of favour and being loaned to Everton last season.

The now 30-year-old impressed early on, but had his campaign ended early by a foot injury suffered in January and there is uncertainty over his future.

"The cons are he is going to be 31 next month and the rock-and-roll lifestyle he leads means it is quite an old 31 for a professional footballer. He's injury-prone, and he's a really high earner," Hale said.

• Listen to the full chat by pressing play below or on BBC Sounds here

"But, in the pros there is a real romance of the return of the prodigal son. You always felt it was written at some point he would come back. He is still a wonderful talent and adds real personality to a football team. He carries the ball really well, and we have lost Morgan Rogers.

"It is a Champions League season again for Villa, they need to have strength in depth with a deeper talent pool. I think he would be an asset to Villa. You cannot have too many good players.

"Whether it is this year or next year, I just think it is written in the stars that he will come back."

Villa fans, do you want Grealish back at the club? Where would he fit in? And is his exit now water under the bridge?

Let us know here

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Boubacar Kamara marked his return to the Aston Villa squad with a goal in the 3-1 pre-season victory over Thai Premier League side, BG Pathum United.

First half goals from Victor Lindelof and Emi Buendia gave Unai Emery's side a comfortable victory in Thailand.

Kamara has not featured for Villa since January 2026 after suffering a knee ligament injury.

The 26-year-old scored within a minute of being substituted and said "it feels good to be back" as he returned to a match-winning Villa side.

"I've worked hard during my rehab, for coming back stronger, so I'm happy to be here," said Kamara.

"It's good for the head. This goal will give me more confidence and I need to keep going."

Emery's side will now travel to Hong Kong to face Bundesliga champions, Bayern Munich on 7 August (13:00 BST).

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We asked how much football you think Brian Madjo will play next season and how excited you are by him after the 17-year-old has been cleared to play.

Here are some of your comments:

David: Madjo can be an excellent impact sub. I see a similar development arc to Jhon Duran - a super sub with more game time if he gets goals. Wouldn't want to be a tired centre-back playing him in the last 15 of a game...

Michael: This has to be the greatest news coming from Villa Park. He is a beast of a player at just 17 years old. Already proved what a threat he can be to defenders. He will only improve under Unai. Ollie certainly has some competition for the number nine shirt

Mark: Madjo looks like an exciting prospect, but I do worry that the fans may put too much expectation his way. He is still only 17 and still at a point where his development needs to be managed carefully. I hope we will see him in and around the first time rather than send him out on loan though. If we can nurture the kid well, he could be the best choice to replace Kane at the next world cup.

Neil: Unleash the beast. He is going to be awesome.

Mike: The success of the CAS appeal over Madjo's registration is massive. He may not be starting XI ready at 17, but he could be one heck of an impact sub if we need to change things up a bit in games.

Sam: I have massive trust Unai will do the right thing with him. He's a huge prospect and we don't want to crush any of the confidence out of him. We can always loan him out in January. Villa for the Treble next season.

SP: I'd like to think he will be on the bench for this season and not on loan. We haven't had that 'spark' coming off the bench since Duran left. He'll get goals against tiring legs.

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Aston Villa have confirmed 17-year-old Brian Madjo will be available to feature in competitive fixtures in the 2026-27 season.

The announcement comes after Madjo joined Villa for a £10m fee in January 2026, but his move initially restricted him playing due to "Fifa's rules on the international transfer of minors".

The West Midlands club said: "Aston Villa can confirm that the club's appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) regarding the registration of Brian Madjo has been upheld.

"Born in Enfield, London and a UK citizen, he left England at a young age and was raised in Luxembourg."

So far, Madjo has scored four goals in pre-season and has been tipped to be a "tantalising prospect" by BBC Sport's Nick Mashiter for the upcoming season.

How much football do you think Madjo will play next season? Are you excited by him? Tell us