BBC report says Aston Villa sale to Chinese businessman is final

According to a report from the BBC, Aston Villa have officially, finally, been sold. The buyer is Chinese businessman Dr. Tony Xia. The news comes mere hours after we had heard that Aston Villa chairman Steve Hollis was in China possibly to finalise a deal, so all of the pieces seem to fit here.

The BBC report says that the price of the club will end up being £60 million, which is well below the £100 million reported by the Birmingham Mail this morning and further still from Randy Lerner's original asking price of upwards of £200 million.

There is, of course, the question of whether or not the BBC have gotten this right. They've put the report on their website, which suggests a high degree of confidence (add to that the fact that the BBC are not generally known for screwing stuff like this up). I'm leaning towards "this is real" but without further details will wait for official confirmation from the club.

We'll have more as it breaks.