Aston Villa’s 12 most expensive transfer sales

Aston Villa are on the rise under Unai Emery, with NSWE backing the manager in the transfer market. However, the club have also cashed in on a number of Villa Park stars down the years – but who is the club’s record departure?

Here at Football FanCast, we’ve taken a look at Villa’s most expensive sales in their history, as per Transfermarkt, with a detailed look at the top 12.

Here’s a detailed look at Aston Villa’s top 12 sales…

12

Matt Targett

£15m to Newcastle, 2022

After a season on loan at St James’ Park in 2021/22, Matt Targett sealed a permanent £15m move the following summer. The following campaign turned out positive for both clubs, with the Magpies qualifying for the Champions League as Unai Emery hauled Villa from relegation trouble to European football.

Targett has had limited minutes of late, with his only Premier League outing in the 2024/25 season to date ironically coming against Villa in December 2024.

11

Danny Ings

£15m to West Ham, 2023

Danny Ings’ £25m switch to Aston Villa didn’t quite work out, but Villa were able to recoup the majority of that sum when selling to West Ham in January 2023.

David Moyes’ side paid £12m upfront for the striker, with another £3m coming Villa’s way after the Hammers retained their Premier League status that season, which they achieved alongside their Conference League success.

10

Cameron Archer

£15m to Southampton, 2024

Cameron Archer was sold, bought back and re-sold by Villa within the space of 12 months, with the club activating a clause in a deal that sent him to Sheffield United allowing him to return to the Midlands – only for the club to offload him again for relatively big money, this time to Southampton.

Sold for a combined £33m between the two deals, the most recent one saw Archer join the newly promoted Saints in the summer of 2024 for £15m, having suffered relegation with the previous year’s newboys, Sheffield United, in 2023/24.

9

Ashley Young

£17m to Man Utd, 2011

Ashley Young arguably had his best years as a winger at Aston Villa, spending four years at the club between 2007 and 2011 after joining from Watford.

Young made just under 250 appearances in a Villa shirt, and when Manchester United came calling, Villa cashed in on their star player by recouping around £17m, making a tidy profit in the process.

8

Cameron Archer

£18m to Sheffield Utd, 2023

The first time Aston Villa sold Cameron Archer was in 2023 to newly promoted Sheffield United. Archer had a respectable campaign at Bramall Lane which resulted in Villa activating a buy-back clause in 2024, only to sell him again months later.

The Blades shelled out £18m to sign the forward, with their subsequent relegation perhaps playing a part once Villa sensed they could get some more money for him, with play-off winners Southampton the latest beneficiary.

7

Carney Chukwuemeka

£20m to Chelsea, 2022

Young midfielder Carney Chukwuemeka starred for a brief period of time in the Aston Villa first team after coming through the academy.

Chukwuemeka’s impressive performances caught the eye of Chelsea, who added the midfielder to their growing list of young signings in 2022 for £20m. However, he has already been linked with an exit without making his mark at Stamford Bridge.

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6

Stewart Downing

£20m to Liverpool, 2011

Stewart Downing was Martin O’Neill’s first signing of the 2009 transfer window and his time at Aston Villa was short and sweet. After two seasons, Liverpool and Kenny Dalglish took Downing to Anfield and the left-winger would spend two years with the Reds.

The Anfield side spent a reported £20m to bring the England international to Merseyside, though the fee has officially remained undisclosed.

5

James Milner

£26m to Man City, 2010

Premier League icon James Milner initially joined Aston Villa on loan in 2005 as part of Newcastle’s deal to re-sign Nolberto Solano.

Milner would go on to impress at Villa Park and signed on a permanent basis three years later in 2008, making a total of 126 appearances before signing for Man City in a £26m deal in 2010, from which point he continued to carve out a successful top-flight career.

4

Christian Benteke

£32.5m to Liverpool, 2015

Powerful striker Christian Benteke first made his mark in England with Aston Villa after arriving from Genk in 2012, and the Villans would make a huge profit on the Belgian three years later.

It was again Liverpool who came calling and paid an eye-catching £32.5m fee for the forward, though his transfer to Anfield didn’t work out and he was on the move again 12 months later.

3

Douglas Luiz

£42.35m to Juventus, 2024

More recently, central midfielder Douglas Luiz was sold by Aston Villa to Juventus in 2024 after spending five successful years with the club.

A transfer was reportedly worth €50m (£42.35m), with Villa soon taking Samuel Iling-Junior and Enzo Barrenechea to the Midlands in return. Amadou Onana has since become his successor at Villa Park.

2

Moussa Diaby

£50m to Al-Ittihad, 2024

Another big-money exit in 2024 to help balance the FFP books was Moussa Diaby, who moved to Saudi Arabian side Al-Ittihad for around £50m.

The France international only spent one campaign in England, but his displays were enough for Villa to more or less break even on the fee they paid Bayer Leverkusen a year earlier.

1

Jack Grealish

£100m to Man City, 2021

Unsurprisingly top of the list as Aston Villa’s most expensive sale is Jack Grealish, whose £100m move to Manchester City in 2021 was a British record at the time.

The attacking midfielder dazzled in claret and blue in the Championship and the Premier League and departed Villa after making more than 200 games for his boyhood club. His deal as the most expensive between British clubs has since been eclipsed by the likes of Declan Rice and Moises Caicedo.