Soccer-Villa-Chelsea transfer links are about business, not friendship, says Emery


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Aug 31 (Reuters) - Aston ⁠Villa do not share a special relationship with ⁠Chelsea despite a number of transfers between the ‌clubs in recent years, manager Unai Emery said on Sunday, describing the deals as purely business transactions.

The clubs have agreed eight permanent ​or loan deals over the past ⁠four years, more than ⁠any other two Premier League teams.

"Good relations? They want to ⁠kill ‌us and we want to kill them," Emery told reporters on Sunday.

"It's not a ⁠good relationship, it's a deal for money and ​a deal ‌for players. I amhappy for Emiliano Martinez and Morgan ⁠Rogers and ​I know I am not happy for Chelsea."

The flow of transfers began after the consortium BlueCo took control of ⁠Chelseain 2022.

England midfielder Rogers joined Chelsea ​in a reported £117 million ($158 million) move, and Alejandro Garnacho was loaned to Villa with a conditional obligation for the ⁠transfer to become permanent next year.

Striker Nicolas Jackson then joined Villa and goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez completed his switch to Stamford Bridge.

British media reported that Chelsea have ​spent more than £160 million on Villa ⁠players since 2022, while Villa have paid around £102 million for ​players moving in the other ‌direction.

Villa host champions Arsenal in ​the Premier League on Monday.

($1 = 0.7387 pounds)

(Reporting by Suramya Kaushik in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)

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