Aston Villa to trim squad with Uefa financial guidelines approaching – report

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Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner has told his manager Gerard Houllier that he must cut-down on playing staff over the summer in a bid to meet Uefa’s new financial fair play targets that will come into effect later this year, according to the Daily Mail.

John Carew, Robert Pires, Brad Friedel, Isiah Osbourne, Moustapha Salifou and Nigel Reo-Coker are among the Villa players whose contracts run out in the summer, and it remains uncertain whether they will be handed new deals.

It is also thought that Villa are hoping for clubs to make offers for Stephen Ireland, Stephen Warnock, Habib Beye, Shane Lowry and Brad Guzan, who are all out of Houllier’s first team plans.

Lerner is still expected to invest in the club despite cutting playing staff, but there may well be further emphasis on self-developed talent at Villa Park, as youngsters like Marc Albrighton and Ciaran Clark continue to impress.