Aston Villa paid Rangers £4.25m in compensation for Steven Gerrard

Aston Villa paid £4.25 million in compensation to Rangers for Steven Gerrard, the Scottish side’s annual financial report shows.

In a report that showed an unprecedented turnover of £86.8m, it is a nugget about the compensation package that Villa put together last year to bring Gerrard to Villa Park that stands out.

The hierarchy of Christian Purslow and Villa made no secret of their hunt for Gerrard, who was under contract with Rangers until 2024, after they sacked Dean Smith as manager.

The amount of compensation Aston Villa has paid to Rangers for Steven Gerrard has now been revealed

After returning Ibrox to a league title, the former Liverpool captain’s stock was high at Rangers and they were reluctant to let him go cheap.

It has now been revealed that Villa paid £4.25million to get him.

Villa also had to pay a further £6.1million for backroom staff to be eligible to follow Gerrard to the Midlands.

Rangers’ report detailed: ‘We have also been charged £6.1million in one-off costs, including court settlement and contract termination costs.’

Gerrard (center) had three years left on his Rangers contract when Villa signed him

That money would have been generated from contract terminations, including that of Michael Beale, formerly a coach at Gerrard and now manager of Queens Park Rangers.

Villa was aggressive in their pursuit of Gerrard and it showed their faith given the compensation package they paid to get him.

But the field’s optimism soon faded and Gerrard was sacked 11 months later after a miserable night in Fulham, where outraged Villa fans chanted for him to ‘get out of our club’.

More to follow.