Aston Villa have been forced to pay former owner Randy Lerner £10million after the American businessman made a bizarre promise to the club’s supporters.
The Midlands club, who are currently in the Championship, were taken over by Chinese businessman Dr Tony Xia in 2016.
However, before the takeover, Lerner had promised to pay the club’s supporters £10million if they stayed in the Premier League for five consecutive seasons.
The promise was made in a statement released by Lerner in 2014, in which he said: “If Aston Villa can remain in the Premier League for five consecutive seasons, I will personally pay the club’s supporters £10million.”
Unfortunately for Lerner, Villa were relegated from the Premier League in 2016 and the promise was never fulfilled.
However, the club’s new owners have now decided to honour the promise and have agreed to pay Lerner the £10million.
The money will be paid in instalments over the next five years and will be used to help fund the club’s transfer activity.
The news has been welcomed by Villa fans, who have been desperate for the club to make some big signings in order to help them return to the Premier League.
The club have already made some big signings this summer, including the likes of John McGinn, Anwar El Ghazi and Andre Green, and the money from Lerner will help them to continue to strengthen the squad.
It is a bizarre situation, but one that Villa fans will be pleased to see resolved. The club now have the funds to make some more signings and hopefully they can use them to help them return to the top flight.
