Aston Villa are set to escape punishment from the Football League after raising £18million in player sales this summer.

Villa offloaded nine senior players in the transfer window, either permanently or on loan, in a bid to fall in line with Financial Fair Play regulations.

The Championship club were in danger of breaching League rules after incurring heavy losses in the past, but are now in a healthier financial state after their summer clear-out.

Stringent new rules dictate that clubs can lose up to £83million over the course of three seasons, and in February Villa revealed a deficit of £81.3million, leaving them dangerously close to sanctions.

Jordan Veretout, Carlos Sanchez, Nathan Baker and Leandro Bacuna have since left the club while Jordan Amavi’s loan move to Marseille is expected to be made permanent next year.

Villa did sign seven players but, crucially, only spent an initial £2million on Glenn Whelan and Ahmed Elmohamady.