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Aston Villa’s cash crisis could soon be resolved as it can be revealed that a Middle East group have lodged a bid for control of the club.

Owner Tony Xia has been discussing possible solutions with a number of interested parties and now has a preferred group on board.

BirminghamLive understands that a group have come forward and are currently in talks with the embattled owner.

Offers of varying levels of control have been discussed and a deal could soon be struck.

It's understood that a two-stage deal has been proposed consisting of majority control for the new party with the option of a potential takeover.

Other groups are still interested but this offer is now at an advanced stage.

poll loading Aston Villa fans, do you want Tony Xia to remain at the club? 13000+ VOTES SO FAR Yes, he still has a part to play No, his time is up

These next few days are crucial for Villa as Xia desperately needs a cash injection to help cover the forthcoming bills.

Earlier today we reported on Xia's tenure at the club in this special report.

And yesterday we reported how money needs to be raised by Friday to pay this month’s tax bill on time.

Selling either Jack Grealish or James Chester would paper over the cracks in the short-term as Villa continue to lose around £5million a month.

But with both Tottenham and Stoke City yet to meet Villa’s valuations of either player, Xia has been forced into finding another solution.

On Saturday the owner flew into London for crunch meetings with his assistant, Rongtian He, known as Ho.

He discussed the need to find cash quickly as the forthcoming bills remain a concern.

It's now understood that a deal is close to been agreed.

Investigation

At 7pm on Saturday May 26, the look on Aston Villa owner Tony Xia’s face said it all.

When that final whistle was blown in the club’s make-or-break playoff clash with Fulham, all dreams of promotion to the Premier League evaporated, and with them the prospect of a £160m upturn in the club’s finances.

Within weeks the reason for Xia’s despondency became clear. An unpaid tax bill and a threatened winding-up order showed the scale of the club’s financial woes, while turmoil in the boardroom saw the exit of chief executive Keith Wyness, followed by an exodus of other key staff.

Now, Xia is looking for a new cash injection into the club, but has denied it is up for sale, even amid a flurry of reports of takeover bids from the US, Europe and the Middle East.

The sale of star players seems inevitable, but manager Steve Bruce has no budget to bring in new blood.

And, ominously, another tax bill is due, with little evidence of a solution in sight for the club’s financial crisis.

So how did it come to this at one of the world’s most prestigious and historic clubs?

BirminghamLive has spoken extensively to highly placed sources from the worlds of football and finance in Birmingham, in the UK and across the world to piece together this account of Villa's Chinese Puzzle

Full story here