Randy Lerner has agreed the sale of Aston Villa Football Club to Chinese businessman “Tony” Xia Jiantong. The deal is reported to be worth £60 million and is pending approval by the Premier League.

The club stated that: “Aston Villa Football Club is pleased to announce that an agreement has been signed for the sale of 100 percent ownership by Randy Lerner to Recon Group, owned by Xia Jiantong. Randy Lerner has sought the right new owner for Aston Villa who would take great care of the club and restore its fortunes. He believes that Xia Jiantong is an excellent choice.”

The sale marks an end to the Lerner era, a decade of two distinct halves which saw the midlands club challenging for European places at the top and struggling at the bottom. The club recently succumbed to relegation in the most recent season and undoubtedly influenced the final selling price Lerner was able to command. It has been a painful journey for supporters and owner alike, with the former enduring years of lackluster play and the latter feeling the financial pain of a mismanaged property.

Lerner purchased Villa in 2006 for £62.2m and had invested close to £150m in the push for the Champions League, recently however the club recorded a £52m loss in 2012-13, a £3.9m loss in 2013-14 and a £27.3m loss in 2014-15. While it’s likely that Lerner recouped a portion of his investment through earned interest on debt extended to the club it doesn’t seem to be anywhere close to what was invested. This loss is especially likely given some of the debt-equity conversions he has Lerner completed recently (Swiss Ramble breaks this in incredible detail) which total approximately £175m over the past three years. Barring some yet undisclosed swap or agreement that equity is now sold off as part of the new deal. £175m in equity to £60m is a decent amount of pain.

Questions remain around the new Chinese owner “Tony” Xia Jiantong and his plans and ability to invest in the club. Recon Group appears to be a holding company with interests in diverse businesses like food additives and financial services. Xia has an equally diverse history spending several years at various educational institutions apparently including Harvard and Oxford ultimately studying design and landscape architecture.

Villa supporters will be hoping that Xia’s arrival marks a new, brighter future for the club.