Villa decided to cash in on some of the talented youngsters who emerged from their academy in the last transfer window.
It allowed them to balance their books and improve their financial fair play calculations as the club look to build on a solid summer.
Sheffield United signed Cameron Archer for a fee of £20m while Burnley forked out a fee of £15m for Aaron Ramsey.
Jaden Philogene was sold to Hull City for £5m, but each of these deals included buy-back clauses as well.
Aston Villa did not want to lose complete control of their futures and the buy-back clauses are roughly double the fees they received for each of the three players.
They would have to pay a fee of £40m if they want Archer back from Sheffield United and £30m if they are interested in buying back Ramsey from Burnley.
A fee of £10m would have to be forked out if they show an interest in getting back Philogene in the future.
