Aston Villa: Dr. Tony Xia is looking to sell the club, or maybe he isn’t

Aston Villa principal owner Dr. Tony Xia has entertained the idea of selling the football club.

Reports from England suggest Aston Villa owner Dr. Tony Xia is desperately looking for external investment into the football club, possibly as much as a takeover bid. As the bills pile-up, the summer grow shorter, and uncertainty mounts, Aston Villa has a host of question marks entering its third season in the EFL Championship.

Two years removed from Randy Lerner’s abysmal ruling and we’re back at square one.

Various readings in the Birmingham Mail suggest Xia rejected £40 million investment in return for a 51% stake in the club. That amount is partly amusing because it suggests Aston Villa appreciated in value over Xia’s reign. That, quite simply, cannot be the case.

Xia broke his silence on Wednesday over Twitter:

Not really sure what that is supposed to mean, but we’ll take any update over the nothingness Aston Villa has provided since losing 1-0 to Fulham in the play-off final. If things couldn’t get any worse, Jack Grealish provided his own cryptic tweet on Tuesday:

Tottenham are said to be “leading the race” with a number of other Premier League clubs interested. Villa want nothing less than £30 million for the attacking midfielder, but Spurs’ chairman Daniel Levy’s frugality could lessen the competition for Grealish, thus lowering his transfer sum.

Whatever, the case may be with Aston Villa ownership, one thought is abundantly clear. If the club does not sort out its ownership and funding issues shortly, Villa faces another wasted summer of inactivity. Xia wants outside investment, he possibly wants to sell outright. There are offers on the table, but his pickiness during a dire situation might be the club’s undoing.