Re: AVFC Takeover Thread, Rumours, Gossip and Hearsay...all goes here

[HarryAVFC]

I feel slightly better about this tonight, must be the whisky lol. I still don't get what the Recon Group actually do

I don't think anyone knows, even Hollis :)

Whatever though, they are buying and in talks to buy 4 other companies so money is somewhere

[deadbuzzardalive]

Aston Villa sale to Tony Xia is Randy Lerner's last chance to save risible legacy

Sam Wallace
Chief Football Writer

21 May 2016 • 3:03pm

It was with a final message on Aston Villa’s website that Randy Lerner’s ownership of the club ended this week, a quirky farewell which read, it should be said, like a valedictory email from a colourful colleague leaving under a cloud, cc’d to all at an unusually late hour.

“In being sadly more than tone deaf,” Lerner wrote, “I'll not weakly risk trying to sound any positive notes.” And commendable though it is that the Holte Pub has been restored on his watch as a club banqueting suite, him listing it among his achievements only conspired to make the legacy sound that bit more risible


The fact that fans can choose from a range of beers in a relaxing environment while marvelling at the Holte’s three stylish function suites might soften the blow for some, but on the whole one suspects their preoccupation will be this: Aston Villa are in the Championship.

Yet every owner, no matter how unpopular, has one final task before they do what the banners and the phone-ins demand - that is to ensure their successor is not likely to make an even worse job of it. One wonders, for instance how often each day David Moores reflects on selling Liverpool in 2007 to Tom Hicks and George Gillett.


Although the track record of those two is far removed from their compatriot Stan Kroenke, the former Arsenal shareholder Nina Bracewell-Smith has expressed regrets at selling to the American. Likewise, what to make of Terry Brown’s sale of West Ham to the Icelandics who almost bankrupted the club?

Lerner has selected the Chinese businessman Dr Tony Xia, described by the American as “hugely successful” as well as “passionate about architecture, site design and planning”. Indeed, there was considerably more in Lerner’s farewell about the new owner redeveloping Villa Park than there was about him redeveloping the team’s defence, midfield and attack.

Yet, the latest disclosure that the Premier League and Football League both have serious doubts about Xia’s suitability suggest that whatever mistakes Lerner has made at Villa up until now, he cannot afford for his last to be his greatest.

The first Chinese takeover of a significant British football club has been long-anticipated, and regarded as a potential game-changer even in these days of fossil-fuel billionaire owners. Xia might yet turn out to be a shrewd and resourceful owner of Villa in the mould of Leicester City’s Thai Srivaddhanaprabha family, but at first glance he is not nearly so wealthy.

The Sunday Telegraph’s Beijing correspondent Neil Connor has discovered that the biggest company in Xia’s Recon Group empire appears to be Shanghai-based Lotus Health Group, which made a net loss in of 508.5 million yuan [£53.3 million] on revenues of 1.7 billion yuan [£180 million] last year. That is compared with a net profit of 23.9 million yuan [£2.5 million] the previous year.

Xia bought the company in March last year, and in December there was surprise in the Chinese business community when it emerged the cousin of President Xi Jinping had been elected to its board of governors. The decision to elect Xi Yinping was reversed a day later



The new Villa owner also has further investment aside from Lotus, a food additive company. His Recon Group also has interests in small loans, IT and urban design. He studied design and landscape architecture at Harvard. Historically he has claimed on Weibo, the Chinese Twitter equivalent, that he is a Villa fan – one stunt Lerner conspicuously avoided when he arrived ten years ago.

Yet in the Chinese equivalent of the Forbes rich list – the Hurun List – Xia is nowhere to be seen. In a country where plenty claim to be billionaires, and there is even less transparency about personal wealth, that is nevertheless confusing given the bold promises made this week that Xia will turn Villa into one of the world’s best known clubs in less than ten years.

My colleague Connor did ask Xia’s alma mater Harvard for the new Villa owner’s academic record but he appears to have opted to block all public access to it. Either way, the evidence suggests Xia is not currently at the level where he has limitless funds capable of solving any problem.

If Xia cannot change Villa by sheer virtue of his wealth, and that would be hard to do overnight given the Football League’s financial fair play rules, then it will be intriguing to see his strategy. Traditionally the major Chinese investors have not sought to buy European clubs, on the basis that making profit from the game is so difficult with wages spiraling ever upwards.

At the behest of President Xi, who has made football a part of state policy, major business figures have got involved. Jack Ma, billionaire founder of the internet Alibaba Group, has pumped money into the Chinese Super League club Guangzhou Evergrande, current holders of the Asian Champions League, but he has resisted making a big investment in Europe.

Wang Jianlin, one of the country’s richest men, bought 20 per cent of Atletico Madrid for £34 million last season, which would have barely caused a ripple on the surface of his resources. The CMC Chinese consortium that bought a 13 per cent stake for £265 million in the City Football Group who own Manchester City, were brought in primarily by Sheikh Mansour’s executives to give City a way into the Chinese media market.

In all instances investment has been regarded in China as fulfilling the wishes of President Xi and forging bonds with clubs that will allow top Chinese players a chance to develop in an elite environment and eventually benefit the woefully underachieving national team. As for Xia, he is not nearly as wealthy as the aforementioned, but the first to put himself directly in the firing line.

The bad old days of the last five years at Villa will eventually fade, but if Lerner sells to the wrong man, he may find himself in the unhappy position of being caught unwittingly in a whole fresh era of pain.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/05/21/aston-villa-sale-to-tony-xia-is-randy-lerners-last-chance-to-sav/

[Guest]

There are some proper real life deluded idiots on this forum. It's actually funny that one or two clowns have managed to convince so many people that the government of China are funding Aston Villa..... Dear god almighty!!!

We may well be on the cusp of something, we may well be pumped with cash, but if you seriously think.... And convinced yourself the money is from the government then you are deluded at best....reading your own meaning into interviews and comments and preaching it like its the gospel.... Is there a name for people like you?

Hollis has never said we are govt backed. He said they will be involved... Of course they will, they will watch where every penny is spent, lol. And when it suits them, they will stop money being spent outside out China.

Mods, you don't have to ban me for the rant. I want no further part of this pathetic forum. I'm outta here. You aren't even allowed an opinion if it differs to what the clique wanna hear without being shouted down. Some of the replies I've seen to people's opinions over the last few days are appalling. 2 posters in particular don't debate, they dictate. TBAR is finished in my opinion.

Fully agree with this.

My issue with the Recon Group is that people label them as a holding company, yet this is what their homepage says:

   Throughout the years, The Recon Group focused its efforts on the Intelligent Disposition, Smart Touch and Smart Returns aspects of the Reverse Logistics' Industry. Having added every big box consumer electronic retailer to our client roster, The Recon Group's area of expertise lies in Consumer Electronics, however, it is not limited to this category. The Recon Group has developed and executed programs for a multitude of consumer level products, including soft goods, hard goods, clothing and toys. Each and every product that is processed by The Recon Group undergoes a triage to allocate the proper resources, and deploy the corresponding Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). The Recon Group boasts a large repertoire of in house developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's) for each and every product processed, this maintains homogenous end product, through repeatable procedures. Simply calling what The Recon Group does "Reverse Logistics" would be a shortcoming to our abilities! The Recon Group has adopted the terminology of "Intelligent Disposition, Smart Touch and Smart Returns" as we do so much more than Refurbishing, Reconditioning and Reverse Logistics. The Recon Groups roots are deep in first hand experience, our team consists of individuals collaboratively working together, to each bring their versatile backgrounds and experiences, goals, achievements, certifications and inter-industry networking, creating The Recon Group.  

That doesn't sound like a holding company in my book. And I still don't understand what that first bit actually means.

[AstonThriller]

There are some proper real life deluded idiots on this forum. It's actually funny that one or two clowns have managed to convince so many people that the government of China are funding Aston Villa..... Dear god almighty!!!

We may well be on the cusp of something, we may well be pumped with cash, but if you seriously think.... And convinced yourself the money is from the government then you are deluded at best....reading your own meaning into interviews and comments and preaching it like its the gospel.... Is there a name for people like you?

Hollis has never said we are govt backed. He said they will be involved... Of course they will, they will watch where every penny is spent, lol. And when it suits them, they will stop money being spent outside out China.

Mods, you don't have to ban me for the rant. I want no further part of this pathetic forum. I'm outta here. You aren't even allowed an opinion if it differs to what the clique wanna hear without being shouted down. Some of the replies I've seen to people's opinions over the last few days are appalling. 2 posters in particular don't debate, they dictate. TBAR is finished in my opinion.

I see the immature amongst us who makes silly claims but can't back them up has thrown his dummy out again...BOO HOO!! .

Only one person has been abusive towards others on this thread. So please forgive me for telling you not to let the door hit you on your way out.

p.s. Hollis himself said the government were involved and so has The Sun and The Mirror who both were right about the original takeover stories...but hey I clearly "read what I want to read" don't I?

[deadbuzzardalive]

To be fair the idea of us being government backed is being discussed on every Villa forum as a possibility, not just on here. I don't see it myself, but can see why people think it might be the case.

[AstonThriller]

To be fair the idea of us being government backed is being discussed on every Villa forum as a possibility, not just on here. I don't see it myself, but can see why people think it might be the case.

No-one is saying the Chinese Government are gonna pump billions into the club etc. But when you consider Xia and Recon's links to the state, China's desire to improve their football structure and Xia's comments about helping Chinese football after buying the club surely people can see the writing on the wall?

It may or may not turn out to be true...but it's certainly a possibility, especially when someone who done the deal hinted at it. But hey apparently we're all "mad" for even talking about it .

[Trotters]

I know this kind of "lost in translation" speak well as my wife is from overseas and it used to happen all the time with us. She thought she was saying something but missed a few key words which completely turned her sentence into a different meaning.

That's just a problem with women in general :)

[Trotters]

Don't underestimate the importance of ego and reputation amongst the Chinese. This deal could potentially be a vanity project by a Chinese businessman but given the statements made by their Government they are very serious about football investment.
The Chinese Government very rarely make public statements and when they do - they should be taken seriously - particularly when they go public with dates - ie World Cup 2050.

Dr. (Mr.?) Tony has not only staked his private reputation on a very public investment but he will be seen by many in the East as representing the Chinese in the West. Again, do not underestimate this.

If he fails, then it will be a reflection on Chinese ambitions and one that will be taken very seriously in the Beijing corridors of power. I absolutely think that this deal would have some elements of government intervention - if only to rubber stamp it.

If it all unravels - the Chinese will be seen as "losing face" and this is unacceptable. If Dr. Tony does have political intentions (or further business ones) in China - there are serious ramifications over and above Villa Park if he doesn't make Villa a force again.

While I don't like bringing geopolitics into this forum (I do prefer bananas)... I would be amazed if the Chinese government aren't keeping a very close eye on developments.

Oh - and before the quotes come about Carson Yeung - there is a big distinction. He was Hong Kong based and would still be viewed as an outsider to those in Beijing.

This is one of the most encouraging posts I've read but midway through ot5i had a (rare) thought...

What if the give DO understand that this bloke is, essentially, the Chinese representative in the premier league and they're NOT behind him in anyway and get twitchy?

Simple answer there is to encourage someone like a Wanda to buy another PL team and actively promote that.

Every silver lining has a black cloud at the moment. Sorry.

[Chrissylee1111]

Part IV: The ownership of clubs in Chinese Super League – II: How rich owners run their clubs



Looking back at the 10-15 years of the development of the super league in China, owners come and go. Most (70%+) owners are not responsible at all, which is a reflect of what businessman are like in general in China. They (in general) are impatient, focus on the short-term interest and benefit, have no boundary of doing things, and only care about their own interests. This was, in general, believed to be due to the fact that the economy was developed so fast that everyone becomes money-oriented.

So let’s talk about how owners run their clubs in China.

Note here when I mention Chinese names, I will always go Last name first.

There are, in general, a few categories. Let me get to them one by one



Type 1) Very self-centred private owner, have some/little background of state support. Super rich. Do whatever they want

Example owner: ZHU Jun, owner of Shanghai Shenhua

Background: owner of the 9th city, which is a company that operates online games (MMO in most cases). The company became super rich after running some Korean games and World of Warcraft in China.

Examples: He likes to speak in front of fans and media, and makes himself sound huge. He is very cocky, at the same time a crazy football fan. When his club played against a very famous club from Europe (cant remember which one) at a friendly, he played for half of the match. He promised to fans, after Chelsea won the champions league, that he will bring Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka to Shanghai. He did that – Drogba played for Shenhua for half season, then left. He didn’t pay his wages, then Drogba raise to FIFA, he got penalty of like 10mil pounds.

He was not very happy about the manager, and decided to sit with the manager in the games. Then he sacked the manager, and made himself as a manager for a few matches.

In 2014, he sold the club to Greenland (a state-owned super-rich real-estate company), under the pressure of Shanghai government.

So to summarise, Zhu knows football, he is a crazy fan. But he interferes how the club is run way too much.

If Dr. Xia is like him, Villa is in SUPER danger. But it is very unlikely that Xia is anything like him, so don’t worry too much.



Type 2) private owner, not very rich, huge passion on football, not very ambitious

Example owner: SONG Weiping – Hangzhou GreenCity

Background: not really too much to say about his company. He is not super wealthy. But I mention him here, because he is really passionate on football. He focused on youth camp, contributed quite a few players to national teams at different levels (ages). He spoke out against football fraud, which made him a hero in fans.

There are a few owners like him, nothing particular to say about them. They are just trying to keep their clubs survived in Super league. Their clubs have no hope to win the titles, and most years they have to fight for staying in the super league.

If Dr Xia is one of these owners, then nothing in particular to worry about. The worse thing is Xia will not have enough money to pump into the club.



Type 3) State owner, MEGA rich, don’t even know how many minutes a football game has, super ambitious (because of political need)

Example owner: National Electricity Network, owner of Shandong Luneng

Every season they will invest in serious money. However because they are a state-owned company, it is extremely inefficient in how they work as a club. A simple example here to help you understand: Say the manager decides to buy a player, he will tell the CEO of the club, the CEO needs to report to the ’leader/owner’ of the club, then reported to the head of the department in the company that deals with the club issue, then reported to his head, then….. Ok then the boss says yes or no, then managers knows that (from a headed letter with signature, which takes time). Then the manager approaches the player. The agent says: I am sorry my player agreed to join another club. Alrighty then, the whole process starts again. The example may be slightly exaggerated, but you get the point.

And the CEO of the club is often ‘assigned’ by the company boss, who often knows nothing about football. Everyone knows if a new leader comes to the house, what will they do first? Guess what, they will change all the policies and introduce new, exciting projects. Will they work? Only god knows. And if the club performed well, they will get promoted, leave the club and join another department of the company and will never touch football management again. If the club performed badly, they will be moved to another department of the company too.

So, if Dr Xia is this type of owner – Good luck, Villa. Pray for 1 in a thousand chance that will get you back to PL. Villa will not do too bad, so staying in Championship is probably what will happen.



Type 4) Private owner, ok-ish rich, want to test the water (for possible economic or political gain)

Example owners: 20%-30% of all clubs

They invest average money in the club, if the club doesn’t work out, they retract their investment and sell the club in half season or in 2 seasons, depending on how patient they are.

I have seen clubs simply got disbanded, all players lose their jobs etc. Mostly happened in the 2nd or 3rd division. It rarely happened in super league, as the local government will not allow this to happen- this will make them feel ashamed.

So better PRAY Dr. Xia is not this type.



Type 5) Private owner, super rich, determined to make the club success which leads to the success of his business and political development. May know something about the football but really use the club as a tool for his business empire.

Example owner: XU Jiayin, owner of Guangzhou Evergrande

He is a very special character I have to say. He served in the army, then moved to Guangzhou to start his career as a businessman. He operates his business empire like running an army – highly disciplined, he is THE boss, very strong character. He wants to be successful in every single thing he does.

He knew nothing about football. He was a volleyball fan, bought a volleyball club and invested a lot and won tons of trophies. Rumour said he has heard of the president and the head of province are football fans, then he bought his club immediately.

He invested sky-high money in the club – like 2-3 billion pounds in the last few years. He wants the best manager and players in the team – Marcelo Lippi came, now Luiz Scolari. The team has 7-9 national squad players. He bought the best world class players, and if the club has no titles, he sacks the manager. Even the club is on the way to the title (2012 topped the group stage), he replaced the manager for Marcelo Lippi (rumour said President likes him, but no one can prove that).

He runs the club like an army (don’t get me wrong, it worked nicely – most Chinese players lacked discipline). A single win bonus (for Asian Champions league) for the team is 1 million dollars (yes, you read it right, 1M per match). One player broke his bone for a key save in the final match of the group stage, he gave that player 1 million dollars as a reward that night. One player twittered and complained that he did not have 1st team opportunity – next day he was sent to the reserve and never played again. He does not allow ANYONE to interfere how the manager runs the team – the CEO was chased by the journalists and he had to get in to the changing room to escape. That was only 5 mins. The CEO next day lose his 6 months salary and a warning. He made his ‘6 DO’s and 3 Don’ts’ rules for all players – for example no smoking no alcohol no argument with referee and managers etc. Anyone who violates that rule, will have 1 million penalty or even kicked out from the club. In an end-season final party, the politicians wanted to cheer with the player (with wine), the player literally turned to the manager and asked for his permission. That was broadcasted live and I watched that – I was very surprised.

So, as I said in another post, if Dr. Xia is 50% as good as Xu (with some adjustment to English football ofc), I will not be surprised at all if Villa win the Premier League in 5 years.



After all this, I would like to give my own opinion on Xia’s take over.

If he bought Villa all by himself (with his own company), without any state support:

Then I think it will be either type 2 or 4. Much more likely to be Type 2 than 4, in my opinion. Villa may get promoted, but cannot do what Xia said about becoming one of the top world clubs. He is not that rich tbh.

If he has state support – in this case his own personal wealth is irrelevant.

I think he will be very likely type 5. The reason that the type 3 club does not work is because those owners do not have to make the club successful to be able to climb up the career ladder. The state support Xia may have is at a completely different level, which has the will of the government that they want to export influence, and football is a perfect platform for that ambition. Xia has to do well and the club has to perform well – otherwise his own business could be in danger (imagine what will happen if your wife asks you to wash the dishes, and you refuse that – same ending).

So, looking at the take-over purely from the 3rd-party perspective, I actually would hope Xia has the state support. Because if he hasn’t, the best Villa can be is just a club that needs to worry about relegation back to 2nd division every year.

Considering the current national strategy of China, I think it is very likely that Xia has state support. It is no secret that president likes football, he also wants to use football as a lead to a huge expansion in domestic market for economy growth. China has tons of foreign currency (5 trillion USD in their banks) and they need to be spent. And the strategy seems to be have global influence and soft national force (in terms of influence and economy), rather than hard force (like what US does in terms of military actions). You guys all know that the president of China visited the UK for 2 days – and he spent half day in Man City, right?

So I think it is quite likely he has state support.

If he has the state support, the best Villa can be is HUGE. And the worst? Very unlikely to be worse than worrying about relegation every year IMO.

We can only wait and see –

Doing something and doing something quick in the summer after the take over will be a very good sign. Because that means Xia has the urge to make the changes. In the next few weeks, everything will unfold.

Most Chineses owners like to interfere the managerial role, which never worked out. Xu never did that, so his club becomes very successful, based on enough budget he puts into the club. This is THE KEY to sucess for a chinese owner. If Dr. Xia ever decides to interfere what manager should do, nothing good will happen.The latest from VT, very interesting:

[HarryAVFC]

Xia says hes buying another business for 3.5 BILLION DOLLARS !!!!!!!!!

[AstonThriller]

New article out tonight guys HERE . In which he CONFIRMS that he has links with the Chinese president!! . Also talks about his funds and so forth. Great read and certainly puts my mind at ease.

[HarryAVFC]

If its true about the 3.5 billion dollar comapny then we are fine

[Trotters]

That IS interesting. Certainly makes View from T2's statement that we cannot be state-backed look exactly what it is....a flouncy petulant rant with no basis in fact.

It's still pie in the sky at the moment but at least we know that the pie actually exists and maybe not as far off as we might imagine.

Was Hollis's flying visit to China for a meeting with someone in the govt??

[HarryAVFC]

hes just sold one company for 430 million

[Heisenberg]

New article out tonight guys HERE . In which he CONFIRMS that he has links with the Chinese president!! . Also talks about his funds and so forth. Great read and certainly puts my mind at ease.

can we now please move on and start dreaming

[HarryAVFC]

He wants to build a museam as well.

We have the history for one thats for sure

[TheVillansOfAston]

Yet another night/day of petty arguing and quite frankly pathetic tittle tattling, and here's me thinking this site had a more "adult" atmosphere when it came to differences of opinions compared to other Villa based sites/forums, Differences in opinions are what makes for a successful forum, and "adult" constructive debating makes for an entertaining place to be......But don't let this one become just another place for so called fans to use just to ridicule, like most other Villa forums are at the moment. Stay classy lads. After all, we've a lot to genuinely be happy about, and look forward to. PS Yes i know i'm a newbie, just saying whats on my mind thats all.

[Trotters]

This is the article that AstonThriller linked to above. Well, kinda...


Saviour or dreamer? Sportsmail talks to Aston Villa’s owner-in-waiting, Dr Tony Xia

By NICK HARRIS FOR THE MAIL ON SUNDAY
PUBLISHED: 09:15 EST, 22 May 2016 | UPDATED: 09:25 EST, 22 May 2016

Tony Xia, Aston Villa’s owner-in-waiting, chuckles when asked if he is a dollar billionaire.

‘I think it’s rather more than that,’ says the 39-year-old Chinese businessman, explaining that just a few months ago he sold one of his companies, Teamax, for £430million, which is sitting in a bank account waiting to be spent, in part on Villa.

‘I own quite a lot of private businesses and I think I can sell some of them for the same amount or more,’ adds Xia, who has provided The Mail on Sunday with a bank transfer certificate purporting to show the funds from the Teamex deal.


Dr.Tony Xia gets a bit shitty when the Daily Mail reporter asks if he can take off his blue vest

Speaking from his home in Beijing on Saturday in an hour-long exclusive interview, he revealed not just the financial nuts and bolts of the deal that could put him in control at Villa Park within weeks but much more about his plans for the club.

‘If’, for the moment, is the key word in the phrase ‘if his plans come to fruition’. Xia was happy to talk about his past, his private life, his business career and his finances.

Within weeks he will need to prove, beyond doubt and with hard cash, that he has the assets and ability to buy Villa and fund it. Initial checks corroborate some of the information.


Although preferring to feature the blue vest in full, Dr.Tony is ok with its brilliance reflecting in his glasses.


Xia presented us with this bank statement with a balance of £4.1bn yuan to prove his wealth ahead of the deal


Registries in the USA and China show the company relocated to Hangzhou in the eastern province of Zhejiang, where Xia also started Teamex, a planning company that has provided services as hundreds of new cities have been built.
Firms operating across IT, health, transport, design, tourism and finance were added. Xia’s business empire exists under an umbrella organisation called the RECON Group but most of the subsidiaries are privately held, not stockmarket listed. The most visible, Lotus, has been loss-making but Xia is open about this and says it is turning around.

He insists that within a few months a series of major mergers and acquisitions will bring a bigger chunk of his business into the public domain. ‘I would rather keep a low profile,’ he says. It is pointed out that buying a football club just relegated from the Premier League is not a clever way to do that. ‘Actually you’re right,’ he laughs.
‘There’s been more attention than I’d expect or could predict. I knew people would pay attention, but not this much.’


Tony Xia and his stylist who he pays over £1m a year just to make sure the blue vest looks good.

Scrutiny, he is finding out, comes as part of the package and he discloses what he will pay for Villa. Lerner, the American owner, wanted more than £100m but Xia says he has settled for £52m up front, plus Xia’s guarantee of clearing Villa’s overdraft at HSBC of £24.5m. Xia says that £74.5m is thus sitting in a ring-fenced bank account.
Lerner will earn a £30m bonus if Villa return to the Premier League within three years and another £10m if they stay there for another three years after promotion.

‘I appreciate it’s a big deal for Villa fans,’ he says. ‘But actually in pure business terms, I’m working on acquisitions much bigger than this.’ He says, for example, that within months he will complete a $3.5bn takeover of a US logistics firm.

If true, Villa fans could well have got themselves an owner if not quite as rich as Roman Abramovich then certainly extremely wealthy. Whether he, like them, is a lifelong supporter, is less clear.

Xia spent five months on an exchange at Trinity College, Oxford, in 1998-99 and saw one Villa home game during that time. He says he cannot remember who they played, or the score. This hardly smacks of an awestruck devotee.


Xia spent five months on an exchange at Trinity College, Oxford, in 1998-99 when he and his vest saw one Villa home game

He insists he has kept an eye on Villa’s fortunes since but admits he also has a soft spot for Arsenal and is rather more convincing waxing lyrical on Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry. ‘I can assure you my first and only football priority from now will be Aston Villa though,’ he says.

Xia says he has offered the manager’s job to one of three candidates in the public domain but won’t confirm which of Roberto Di Matteo, Nigel Pearson or David Moyes it is.

‘When the manager is appointed, we will discuss his budget,’ Xia adds. It is expected between £20m and £50m will be available for transfers, depending on the case made by whoever gets the job.
The long-term plan include a football museum and theme park to attract football tourists from China and India, and the recruitment of young Chinese players to Villa’s academy, if not as formal scholars then on exchange programmes.


Roberto Di Matteo is hesitant when asked to put on a blue vest.


Bug-Eyed Moyes confirms that he owns FIVE blue vests

Xia says he will spend a lot of time in Birmingham over the next year, buying a house for himself and his wife Sally and daughter Charlotte, who turns two this summer. He says buying a club has been a long-term aim.
He has played football since college; Harvard records show him in the university league. He says love of the sport and a desire to diversify his business interests are his main driver, although the knowledge that China’s president, Xi Jinping, wants China to become a footballing superpower, is not lost on him.
He has known the president for some time, albeit not closely. Xi was the most senior government official in Zhejiang Province when Xia relocated there to the same industrial park as Jack Ma, China’s richest man in recent years.
President Xi visited both men’s companies when they were still on the up. Xia dreams he might be tempted to Villa Park too.
For now, that remains a dream, just as Xia knows his plans for Villa remain a dream in the eyes of many. He still has everything to prove.


China's President Xi Jinping poses at a signing ceremony at Beijing's Great Hall of the People on Wednesday

[HarryAVFC]

HES RICH

GET MOYES

[HarryAVFC]

Tony Xia, Aston Villa’s owner-in-waiting, chuckles when asked if he is a dollar billionaire.

‘I think it’s rather more than that [img]

[Villanz]

Link dated 6 April 2016 that seems to support the sale of Teamax as stated in the Nick Harris article above.

http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/000662.SZ/key-developments/article/3353844

'Softto Co Ltd:Says completes 100 pct stake acquisition of Hangzhou-based company Teamax Technology Group.'

[AstonThriller]

LOL I wonder what the doom mongers are gonna moan about now after that article? "oh the cheque is probably dodgy as well and can't be taken seriously" .

[Trotters]

One thing I don't think I've seen him mention (I mean, it's been a few days now so what the hell?) is the stadium.

For a man who seems to be into architecture and design, he's spoken about managers, transfer fees, his worth, the acquisition of other companies but not Villa Park itself.

I wonder if - assuming he's flush - look at renovation as a complete do-over, knock down the North Stand and put something up in it's place or just fill the corners in and have a general tart up.

[wiler]

LOL I wonder what the doom mongers are gonna moan about now after that article? "oh the cheque is probably dodgy as well and can't be taken seriously" .

they will still moan. they will moan about who is appointed manager too. oh well. UTV

[wiler]

im just so surprised that people doubted Steve Hollis, a man whos acted with integrity and transparency much of his short spell at Villa, who also spent 32 years at kpmg dealing with business transactions like this one. He is no Lerner people, Lerner would have sold to a guy like Yeung if Hollis wasnt around!

[Sponsored content]