"Greedy" Randy Lerner is apparently selling Aston Villa at a loss

Assuming that the BBC has their numbers right, Randy Lerner is selling Aston Villa to Chinese businessman Tony Xia for £60 million. We've spent the past few years hearing from fans just how greedy Lerner is. Whether it was because of his high initial asking price or his seeming unwillingness to invest in the club (most recently in the January transfer window).

But if these numbers are true, the greed narrative is about to be torpedoed. When Lerner bought the club in 2006, he reportedly paid £62.2 million. Even before you take anything else into account, he's already selling at a loss. But that doesn't show how much of a loss it really is. Since purchasing, Lerner has pumped millions of pounds back into the club in investments, for capital improvements and player purchases, and various and sundry other things. It wouldn't be shocking if his total investment were above £200 million at this point.

Ignore that, though, and it's still a massive loss thanks to another economic force: inflation. According to this calculator, £62.2 million in 2006 is worth nearly £84 million today. The Bank of England inflation calculator only goes to 2015, but it produces a similar result.

So any way you look at it, Randy Lerner is taking a huge loss to sell this club. It turns out he may not have been so greedy after all.