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Aston Villa bidder identified

American businessman Peter B Freund is reported to be interested in buying Aston Villa and is prepared to pay Tony Xia £75m. Having spent £140m on the club, Xia was hoping for £100m.

The club has allegedly missed paying a £4m tax bill which led to the threat of a winding up order from HMRC. It is believed that this episode is why chief executive Keith Wyness has been suspended.

Tony Xia has put in about £4 million a month since buying club but capital flows from China are difficult after stricter foreign exchange controls were imposed by the government. Substantial sums due for player transfers bought on credit. In 2016/17 the club bought players for £88m but only paid cash of £58m. The balance is on credit to other clubs. Having overspent to secure promotion, the club faces financial fair play challenges.

Freund is a minority shareholder in baseball's New York Yankees through his Trinity Sports Holdings. TSH has an agreement with the United States Soccer League to enter new club Memphis City in the league next year.

Freund is president of Trinity Packaging Corp, a plastics manufacturer which began as a family business in New York in 1917.

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