da realbet： Aston Villa have endured a tumultuous past decade or so, consisting of Championship football, Premier League football, and all the trials and tribulations that straddling that line can bring.
da gbg bet： As such, the club have experienced both great loss and euphoric highs, arguably none more so than seeing their academy graduate Jack Grealish lead the club back to the big time.
Not only that, but the 27-year-old would only go from strength to strength, establishing himself as one of the top division's most creative threats from the left wing.
His final season at Villa Park saw him score six and assist 12, unsurprisingly drawing suitors. However, few would have expected a British transfer record to be smashed to pry him away. Manchester City, however, willingly paid the £100m asking price.
It shocked fans and likely staff alike, but it was an offer that could not be refused. It injected precious funds to reinvest in the squad as a whole and ultimately has kept the club afloat since.
Therefore, it could be argued that the meagre sale of Idrissa Gana Gueye was far more of a gut punch, considering the profit Everton would eventually earn because of the Villans' inability to stay in the league.
How much did Idrissa Gueye cost Everton?
Having featured heavily for the Midlands side, the Senegalese midfielder was incapable of stopping their miserable relegation which activated his release clause. The Toffees were willing suitors, and he would join for just £7.1m, leaving Roberto Di Matteo with no choice.
He has since gone on to star, leave for huge money, and even make a comeback for a cut price.
The 33-year-old has now made 132 appearances for the Merseyside club, with the apex of his career at Goodison Park arguably coming in his debut year.
He would maintain a 7.25 average rating whilst upholding a mammoth 4.1 tackles, 2.5 interceptions and 0.8 key passes per 90 (via Sofascore).
Gueye was everywhere, and he could do everything. This was form that would hardly relent too, eventually encouraging French champions Paris Saint-Germain to spend a mouth-watering £30m for his services. Thomas Tuchel then quickly became enamoured with the current £80k-per-week maestro too, branding him a "machine".
Not only had Villa lost his exploits on the pitch, but an enormous sum of money too. It is for this reason that his exit was far worse than Grealish's, as the English wide man did not leave unceremoniously.
The Cityzens star would exit in triumphant fashion, forcing a huge fee to be paid that allowed him to reach the pinnacle of world football. Meanwhile, Gueye was only joining a club of similar stature to theirs for next to nothing. It was embarrassing, frustrating, and a microcosm of their failures of the time.
Fortunately, there is now a new dawn under Unai Emery, who promises to once again bring them back to where they belong. They can continue to do so due to the money gained from that 2021 sale, not from the measly fee gained in 2016.