Aston Villa have denied reports at the weekend that owner Randy Lerner is actively seeking to sell the Midlands club in the coming months.
The American businessman, who has a personal fortune estimated to be around £1billion, bough the Premier League outfit for £62.6million in 2006. He has since spent around £250million on players and improving facilities, but there has been little progress on the pitch and they are currently languishing in mid-table.
A report in The Sun on Sunday claimed Lerner was looking to sell the club for around £200million, having been encouraged by the £190million Mohamed Al Fayed received for the sale of Fulham recently. It was suggested that the 51-year-old would hope to find a buyer and complete the transaction within the space of three months.
However, reacting to the report by speaking to the Express and Star on Monday afternoon, chief executive Paul Faulkner wasted no time in dismissing the rumours. He said: “I can categorically confirm Aston Villa Football Club has absolutely not been put up for sale and that Randy Lerner is not actively looking to sell the club.”
Earlier this year, it was claimed that former Villa boss Gerard Houllier was to put the wheels in motion for Red Bull to buy the club. But the Frenchman, who is the global director for the company, told the Birmingham Mail: “Red Bull does not have any intention of buying Aston Villa, not at all, so there is no truth in those rumours.”
Although Villa have not added to their honours list since winning the League Cup for a fifth time in 1996, they remain one of the biggest in the country. They have won the league title on seven occasions, the same number of FA Cup triumphs they can boast, whilst their crowning glory came in 1982 when they won the European Cup in Rotterdam.
