Tony Xia continues to slowly edge towards Aston Villa exit door
Tuesday could only be described as a very good day for Villa when it emerged Tammy Abraham will, at least for now, be staying put.
Yet amid all the obvious elation (and let’s be clear, backtracking from some supporters, who had just 24 hours earlier been calling the striker all the names under the sun) another significant piece of news slipped out almost unnoticed.
Documents filed at Companies House confirmed former owner Tony Xia has now ceased to be a ‘person of significant control’ at Villa Park.
In the midst of a season where there remains plenty for Villa to play for, it has been too easily forgotten just how close the club came to disaster last summer.
Perspective might often be a forgotten word in the modern game, yet those supporters who vented their anger in the wake of last Saturday’s admittedly limp FA Cup defeat to Swansea might do well to remember things could have turned out worse. Far, far worse.
Xia’s cash crisis, which left him unable to fund the club, put Villa on the brink of administration before the arrival – at several minutes past the 11th hour – of Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens.
This week’s development was merely another signpost on Xia’s gradual easing out of the club, with his minority stake – which stood at 45 per cent immediately after last summer’s takeover – now having been diluted to less than 25 per cent.
He remains a director, for now, and continues to be listed on the club’s website as vice-chairman. In reality, he has been powerless since Sawiris and Edens first walked through the door.
As the new owners continue to pump in shares, so Xia’s piece of the business will continue to shrink. By the end of the year, he will likely be out of the club altogether, leaving a host of questions.
Who was he really? What was his true worth? What would have happened had Villa beaten Fulham in last season’s play-off final and won promotion?
To those, we will likely never get the answers. The only certainty is that having walked to a financial cliff edge and peered over the top, Villa now find themselves on much firmer ground.
For that, supporters must be truly thankful.
