Villa tangled in bankruptcy fears after failure to pay tax bill

Reports in England claim Villa had been given until last Friday to pay the overdue sum but failed to do so and have been since threatened with a winding-up order.

The club has also sacked chief executive Keith Wyness for his part to play in the situation but things are far from resolved.

Villa hope an initial payment of £2million will ease the matter slightly but there are growing fears that owner Dr. Tony Xia doesn't have the funds to sustain the club.

Allegedly, Xia hasn't injected money into Villa for the past three months due to the difficulty of directing funds from China following a government clampdown.

It means the Championship club will likely be without funds going into this summer's transfer market and could risk losing star players, such as Jack Grealish, at a lower price.

There were already financial concerns due to their failure to secure promotion to the Premier League, with Villa needing to find £40million to adhere to Financial Fair Play regulations. 

The statement released through their official channels does little to soothe the situation. It read: "Aston Villa Football Club can confirm that chief executive, Keith Wyness, has been suspended by the club with immediate effect. Owner and chairman, Dr Tony Xia will assume the role until further notice.

"There will be no further comment from the club at this time."

June 5, 2018