DOUG US OUT OF A HOLF

Luiz deal stopped Villans from paying the penalty

- NEIL MOXLEY

ASTON VILLA avoided a Premier League disaster this summer in the nick of time.

With the Premier League's financial year end looming and a £25m black hole to fill, action needed to be taken.

One of the club's star turns had to be taken to market and sold.

In the end, just hours before the June 30 cut-off, Douglas Luiz was sold to Juventus for £42m in a deal which saved the day.

It was a mighty close call. And it has saved them a potential 10-point deduction and, arguably, their entire season.

Manager Unai Emery's two recruitment gurus sporting director Monchi and director of football operations Damian Vidagany were tasked with sorting out the problem.

They managed to pull it off and now they can get back to planning for the future.

Vidagany said: "At the end of the season, we found ourselves in a situation where we had to sell players for profit to avoid being in breach with PSR (Profit and Sustainability Rules).