Arison probably wasn't in Dallas to talk about buying Villa

It's been a while since we've had a good takeover rumour, so why not have one now. Randy Lerner was in Dallas to watch Aston Villa play last night (how kind of him to remember he owns a team) and pictures have surfaced that show a man who looks a bit like Carnival Cruise Lines chairman and Miami Heat owner Micky Arison with Lerner. You may remember that Arison has previously been linked to purchasing the club, so this is of course causing a sensation around the Aston Villa twitter world.

First off, here's a picture of Arison for reference. Now, here are two tweets with the pictures from last night:

The takeover speculation is back in full swing. Some believe this is Micky Arison pictured with Lerner at the game. pic.twitter.com/9CriZdiWzj

— Isa (@issassin) July 24, 2014

The lady to the right of [the supposed] Arison in the first picture is possibly his daughter. [via @ianrobo1] pic.twitter.com/XgtbuR68UX

— Isa (@issassin) July 24, 2014

I'll admit, it's a pretty good look alike. But as a number of people have pointed out, the man with Lerner seems to be a bit taller than Arison and with a bit more white in his hair. So I'm already a bit dubious.

And then there is this. It seems, from his Instagram account, as if Arison was actually in Italy yesterday.

So no, in all likelihood that was not Micky Arison with Randy Lerner. We can all safely go about our days not having to wonder if an Arison takeover of Aston Villa is imminent.