Excitement building at Aston Villa after report that will thrill fans

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Published on:

13 Jun 2016, 1:15 pm

By Tom Blackburn

New Aston Villa owner Tony Xia has passed the Premier League and Football League's fit and proper person test, according to reports.

The recently relegated club were sold by American Randy Lerner in May but Xia was required to pass certain tests before taking charge of the Midlands club.

Sky Sports claim that on Monday afternoon he was given the green light and was in the UK to complete the acquisition of Villa.

Investigations into the Chinese businessman's conglomerate Recon Group were held jointly by the Premier League and Football League because Villa were not officially relegated until June.

Xia, 39, has already had influence at the club and it is understood that new manager Roberto Di Matteo was his preferred choice.

Xia did not foresee any problems and two weeks ago told Sky Sports: "There is not any excuse that they should turn me down because I am a person who is doing everything legally.

"I am enthusiastic for the club and I will devote myself to it and I am responsible to take it over. There is no reason they will disapprove of that."

The new owner has high hopes for the club and at the same time announced he would be looking to invest £30-40million into the squad as they bid to return to the Premier League.

Sky Sports' report will thrill fans, who might have been nervous that the proposed takeover would fall through and deprive the team of much-needed investment.

Villa were relegated after a wretched season in which they finished bottom with 17 points, 23 short of survival.

In other Aston Villa news, there has been interest from a big-spending club for a £12million rated player.

Aston Villa

Roberto Di Matteo

Premier League

Championship

Tony Xia