Christian Purslow: Aston Villa have 'extremely precise' plans for summer window

Purslow says the club, who have spent more than £260million since returning to the Premier League in 2019, are targeting “a couple of smart signings” to improve on this year’s 11th-placed finish.

Villa spent more than £90m during a highly successful window last summer, which saw them recruit Ollie Watkins, Matty Cash, Bertrand Traore and goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez.

A strategy for the forthcoming window has been agreed with head coach Dean Smith and sporting director Johan Lange, with the club’s billionaire owners, Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, also kept informed.

Purslow told VillaTV: “We talk so frequently, all through the season. We have extremely precise plans for the summer window.

“It won’t surprise anyone to learn we remain deeply ambitious. Our five-year plan is to consistently improve and to consistently improve you have to keep improving the quality of both your starting XI and your squad. We have plans to do both this summer.

“We are at a point where after two highly active summers, it will be a smaller number of ins. I would expect players who came in last year to continue to improve. With a couple of smart signings to make us even stronger we are highly optimistic looking to next season.”

Villa’s primary focus is on increasing their creativity and easing the burden on captain Jack Grealish, who missed 12 matches of the season with a shin injury, with Norwich City playmaker Emi Buendia among several targets under consideration.

Midfielder Morgan Sanson is already on board having joined in a £14m January move from Marseille. The 26-year-old had been on Villa’s list of summer targets before the club decided to move early and take advantage of French football’s financial troubles to secure a cut-price deal.

Asked if there was now pressure to repeat the success of a year ago, Purslow replied: “I don’t see it as pressure. I see it as a responsibility to have the right processes in place.

“Building a club back from a complete restart in 2018 is a process of evolution and learning. “That learning manifests itself in refining the criteria we apply. I think we are getting better at it. I am confident that with the team we have in place, we won’t disappoint.”

Purslow admitted Villa’s inconsistent second half to the season had been a source of disappointment.

He said: “I am pretty pleased with the way things went. I think it is fair to say the firs half was better the second.

“The progression is clear in terms of the points we accumulated. I also liked the fact we had a number of big results against the traditionally stronger sides. But there is a little bit of regret that 11th does not quite reflect where we were for most of the season.

“For a long time it looked like we might be pushing for Europe but we missed out on that. So it was good but tinged with a little bit of regret.”