With Tottenham interested in Jack Grealish, Tony Xia admits Aston Villa must 'player trade' to meet FFP regulations

Action Images via Reuters

Acting Aston Villa CEO Tony Xia has admitted the Championship club must ‘player trade’ this summer in order to meet Financial Fair Play restrictions, as Tottenham ramp up their interest in playmaker Jack Grealish.

Having missed out on Premier League promotion in losing the play-off final, Villa now need to drum up £40million in order to meet FFP, and are looking to fund most of their deficit with a deal for Grealish as they hold out for £30m.

Spurs chairman Daniel Levy, though, is looking into a cut price deal for the 22-year-old in the hope that Villa’s financial trouble will make them more susceptible to a lower fee.

Having stayed silent during the financial struggles, acting CEO Xia wrote an open letter to Villa fans on Saturday, highlighting their need to ‘player trade’ in order to meet FFP.

Though the billionaire businessman refused to name names, he wrote: “To be clear, to meet FFP we need to player trade. No shareholding sale of any size will contribute to meeting FFP.

“We must reduce costs and increase revenue.”

Under fire | Villa chief Tony Xia will need to sell players to meet FFP this summer
Getty Images

Grealish is currently away with the Villa squad on a pre-season training camp in Portugal, though is understood to be keen on a move to north London.

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