Dean Smith makes blunt Aston Villa claim after Premier League struggles - 'half a billion behind'

Dean Smith, the former Aston Villa boss, believes that the club is still recovering from their relegation to the Championship in 2016.

Smith, who led Villa out of the second tier during his tenure, is currently at the helm of MLS team Charlotte, where he has matched a record with nine consecutive victories.

Despite his new role, the 54 year old remains deeply connected to all things Claret and Blue, and has recently shared his thoughts on Villa's financial situation and goal drought.

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These two issues may be linked. Villa had a subdued transfer window, with their most significant acquisition being Evann Guessand, a £30million signing from Nice.

On deadline day, they secured loan deals for Harvey Elliott and Jadon Sancho, and signed free agent defender Victor Lindelof, but things have yet to gel for manager Unai Emery.

As Villa prepare to face Brentford, another of Smith's former teams, in the Carabao Cup tonight, they are the only team in the top four divisions yet to score a goal.

Smith pointed to a significant gap in Villa's resources as one of the contributing factors, along with spending regulations that restrict how much Wes Edens and Nassef Sawiris can invest.

"Is that a case of them not being able to as well though," Smith queried on the Monday Night Club.

"I always said this, Villa went into the Championship for three years we came up and we spent £125m in that first year.

"We had six players on loan who had to go, we released seven players. You are actually building from new.

"Even after four years in the Premier League, you're likely still half a billion behind the top six.

"It's unfortunate because once you drop to the Championship, you're constantly playing catch up.

"Yes, the owners have the funds, but they're probably not permitted to spend it as effectively as they could.

"I think Unai deserves credit for his impressive work over the past three years, given that he hasn't brought in a multitude of players since his arrival, instead improving those already there."

Smith isn't overly worried about the oddity of them not having scored yet this season.

"They've got the foundations of a truly strong squad.

"It's frustrating not to score a goal, but for me, the issue is that they've lost some stability in midfield with the departures of [Boubacar] Kamara, [Amadou] Onana and [Youri] Tielemans being subbed off at halftime.

"You wouldn't typically see John McGinn and [Lamare] Bogarde as Villa's two defensive midfielders, or at least not in the last three or four years.

"I would concur that there probably aren't as many options now.

"As I mentioned, losing [Marco] Asensio and [Marcus] Rashford, along with the surprising departure of JJ [Jacob Ramsay], has hit Villa hard, especially considering the PSR rules. You wouldn't normally sell one of your goal-scoring players.

"And he has netted some crucial goals throughout his brief tenure there.

"I looked at the squad early in the season and a few of the younger players were on the bench and they've had a few injuries, I think once the team comes back I have no doubt.

"Ollie Watkins guarantees you 15 goals a season, so he will come through and score goals.

"He missed a big chance, I think it was at 0-0 against Palace when he went through one on one with the goalkeeper And didn't score.

"They haven't created too much away from home at all, half the game against Newcastle who were playing with 10 men, so for me it's not too doom and gloom."