Tony Xia trained as a landscape architect and runs a large, lossmaking, producer of monosodium glutamate, as well as an eclectic mix of Chinese companies involved in everything from smart city design to small personal loans.
Now the 39-year-old Chinese businessman is on the brink of owning one of England’s most storied football clubs, the 142-year-old Aston Villa, one of the 12 founding members of the English football league.
The club, whose stadium stands in Aston, Birmingham, has just been relegated from the Premier League but has supporters including Prince William, Mervyn King, the former governor of the Bank of England, Tom Hanks, the Hollywood actor and occasionally David Cameron, the prime minister.
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