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Aston Villa warned of Fulham mistakes by Mauricio Pochettino ahead of Tottenham clash
ASTON VILLA have been warned by Mauricio Pochettino with a Fulham reminder after their summer spending spree.
Aston Villa sealed promotion to the Premier League via a Championship play-off final victory over Derby County last season.
Club bosses made their intention to stay in the division abundantly clear by spending in excess of £130million.
Fulham, who beat Villa in the same fixture the season before, also decided to spend big after their return to the top flight, with incoming summer deals that totalled just under £103m.
Villa boss Dean Smith has now been warned by his first opposite boss in the league about why the large investment will not always lead to success.
The Argentine said : “Of course we play Villa, then City.
“We have to try and dominate the game and improve, we are in that process.
“They [Villa] have signed a lot of players, an amazing investment, but always it is not easy.
“Look what happened with Fulham last season.
“The most important is to have time to build the team.
“You invest a lot of money on players, but it is about making that work.
“Look at us last season, we didn’t sign or sell players, and the consequence is one of the best seasons in the club.
“That is the most important example, and we got to the Champions League final.
“It is about creating that dynamic that is successful.”
Smith was keen to brush away links with Fulham’s spending when asked about it on Thursday, and insisted that the spend was necessary.
"With nine players released and six players finishing their loans, it meant that 15 players had to be replaced.
"We've done very well with the recruitment and we're very fortunate to have the owners we have with the money they put forward.
"There is always going to be comparisons with other clubs [Fulham] but we can only concentrate on ourselves."