Aston Villa ready to "kick down door" on Big Six says club chief

Villa this week announced a club record front-of-shirt agreement with gambling firm Betano worth £40million over two seasons, which Heck says is twice the value of their current deal.

Heck, appointed last May by the club’s owners and tasked with increasing revenue streams, also claims Villa have agreed similarly improved contracts through sleeve sponsorship and a kit deal with Adidas, with both due to be announced soon.

Existing contracts with front-of-shirt sponsor BK8 and kit manufacturer Castore have been cut short and Heck, speaking on Wednesday at the SportsPro conference, said the club had been busy “reinventing” itself.

He said: “We have cleared up a lot of, let’s say, not great contracts. We have reinvented ourselves.

“We will be launching the next generation of our brand, coming up in the next few weeks.

“We have doubled our front of shirt deal, we have doubled our sleeve deal, plus we have doubled our kit deal.

“I have not been talking much because we have been working to get this accomplished.

“It is time to share it is the Big Six we are chasing and quite frankly, we are ready to kick the door down.”

While Villa are soaring on the pitch and sit fourth in the Premier League table under Unai Emery, their income remains well behind those of the top flight’s established elite.

The club reported losses of nearly £120million for the 2022-23 financial year and improving revenue streams is considered imperative if they are to compete at the top in the long-term, while also remaining within the league’s profit and sustainability rules.

Another increase in season ticket prices is expected and Heck, previously president of the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team, has attracted criticism from supporters for some of the club’s off-field moves.

Those include charging £60-per-match to use the rebranded Holte Suite facility, which was previously complimentary to season ticket holders. Supporters also contacted the FA to complain about a lack of consultation over the latest redesign of the clubs badge.

The new design, Villa’s second in as many seasons, was scheduled to be released in January after being leaked online but has not yet been formally unveiled.