Villa have also spoken to David Moyes and Nigel Pearson but Di Matteo’s achievements at Chelsea, winning the Champions League in 2012, have pushed him to the front of the queue.

Xia, the Chinese millionaire, believes Di Matteo’s profile will help boost Villa’s popularity in the Far East and admitted in an interview with Telegraph Sport this week that he was a leading candidate.

Di Matteo has been out of management since resigning from Schalke last year and could raid Chelsea for former assistant Eddie Newton if he lands the job.