Relegated EPL side Aston Villa "will be sold to the Recon Group" after club Owner Randy Lerner agreed to sell the club to Recon Group CEO & Chair Tony Jiantong Xia, according to Jamie Jackson of the London GUARDIAN. Xia, a Chinese businessman, "has targeted promotion back into the Premier League immediately and then qualification for European football." While the sale is "subject to the agreement of the Premier League and Football League, Villa fans will hope new ownership can draw a line under a troubled decade under Lerner" that ended with this season’s relegation. A club statement said, "Aston Villa Football Club is pleased to announce that an agreement has been signed today for the sale of 100% ownership by Randy Lerner to Recon Group owned by Dr Tony Jiantong Xia subject to the approval of the Premier League and the Football League." If Xia’s intended purchase is approved "his first challenge is to appoint a manager to succeed Rémi Garde, who left the club in March." Nigel Pearson and Roberto Di Matteo "are thought to be" among the favorites (GUARDIAN, 5/18). REUTERS' Neil Robinson reported the sale "ends an unhappy tenure for Lerner," who bought the Midlands club for £62.2M in '06. Fans "openly demonstrated against his continued involvement with Villa," which was European champion in '82 and has "won the English top-flight title seven times." The statement said that Lerner "had been keen to sell to the right owner," adding that the American believed Xia was "an excellent choice" who had become a fan of the club many years ago (REUTERS, 3/18). In London, Laurie Whitwell reported Xia, who studied at Harvard, MIT, and Oxford University, will replace Steve Hollis as chair once the Premier League and Football League "are satisfied by the fit and proper person’s test, with further directors also set to be appointed." Former Everton CEO Keith Wyness, who left in July '08, has "been earmarked for a similar role at Villa." He would bring football experience having also held the position at Aberdeen. Damien Comolli "could also be named as director of football, the role he held at both Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur." He would be tasked with leading recruitment, an area Villa "failed in considerably last summer" (DAILY MAIL, 5/18).
