By Pete O'Rourke, Transfer Correspondent

11th Sep, 2023 | 1:25pm

Revealed: The real reason Aston Villa sold three forwards this summer

Aston Villa allowed Cameron Archer, Keinan Davis and Jaden Philogene to leave the club in the summer to balance the books for Financial Fair Play reasons, sources have told Football Insider.

All three players came through the ranks at the Midlands giants and are therefore their sales are considered pure profit under FFP rules.

Aston Villa spent big once again in the summer window, reportedly splashing out almost £80million on new arrivals.

Moussa Diaby and Pau Torres both joined Unai Emery’s side for big-money fees, while Nicolo Zaniolo and Clement Lenglet arrived on loan deals.

Youri Tielemans also signed for Villa after leaving Leicester on a free transfer.

The Midlands giants have made a net transfer loss of more than £312million since their promotion back to the Premier League in 2019.

They have spent the seventh-most of any top-flight side in that period, more than rivals Liverpool and West Ham.

But Aston Villa have set out to restore the balance by moving to sell some of their academy products.

Archer joined Sheffield United for a reported £18million last month after scoring regularly on loan in the Championship for Preston and Middlesbrough.

He has already opened his account for the Blades in their draw with Everton earlier this month.

Meanwhile, Philogene has sealed a move to Championship side Hull City for £5million – with Villa holding the option to buy the winger back in the coming years.

Davis joined Udinese permanently in the summer after an unsuccessful loan with Watford last season.

Villa have started the new season with two wins from a possible four and will play Europa Conference League group-stage football from later this month.

In other news, Aston Villa trump Newcastle after agreeing record fee for youngster.