New owner has £600 million in the bank

Aston Villa new owner Dr Tony Xia has plenty of money seemingly waiting in the bank for him to spend on the Championship side according to reports.

Neil Harris of the Daily Mail spoke with Villa’s new owner and he reports how Xia showed the Football League he has a huge £600-million waiting in a bank account.

In the interview with the Chinese businessman Xia revealed his happiness of sealing the takeover from previous owner Randy Lerner and how his first priority is to get Aston Villa back into the Premier League before pushing on to be one of the best sides in European football.

The first priority is to get Villa back into the Premier League and after that, back into the top five clubs in England and then into the top 10 in Europe.

Xia, who comes across as being quite modest spoke how he wants Villa’s branding to be behind his next acquisitions as he looks to buy clubs across the world including in the MLS and India.

I want it to be the best known football club in the world…my plan involves other clubs, and they will also have Villa’s name.

He went on to say how Roberto Di Matteo was his ‘first choice’ to be the next boss at Villa Park and how he saw more than just a football manager in the Italian with his ‘business acumen’ also standing out.

He knows what I’m aiming at, on and off the pitch.

The 39-year old also said that Di Matteo would also have ‘total control’ over the final call on transfers.