Aston Villa reveal Villa Park plans as accounts spell out NSWE transfer strategy

Hello and welcome to a round-up of all the top Aston Villa headlines on Thursday, March 3 2022.

Steven Gerrard's side are preparing for a Premier League clash with Southampton on Saturday following their success at Brighton and Hove Albion last weekend.

Here are the biggest Villa stories...

Villa have announced that Villa Park is to be increased to more than 50,000 spectators with plans in place to build a new North Stand, the club has announced, with designs set to go to Birmingham City Council in the summer.

It comes after Villa released their financial accounts which has helped the club see a turnover growth of £183.6 million from £112.6m in the previous year.

Villa have also detailed the long-term strategic plan which has been set out by owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, which says: "The plan is to develop, recruit and secure talented young players on long-term contracts to build asset value in our playing squad and to ensure long term sustainability.

"Continuing on that pathway in this financial year, an additional investment of £101.4m was made in the playing squad with players including Emi Martinez, Ollie Watkins and Matty Cash joining."

Read more HERE.

Villa have spelled out their transfer plan under owners Sawiris and Edens.

Sawiris and Edens, who acquired Villa from Tony Xia nearly four years ago, have overseen a transformation of the club's fortunes during their short time in the Second City so far.

Since obtaining promotion to the Premier League in 2019 Villa have made it their mission to bring in young players that can develop into top Premier League talent while trying to improve year-on-year in terms of their final position at the end of the season.

Ensuring both of those objectives are met is