Aston Villa fans eager to meet with owners

It is understood Sawiris and Edens agreed a deal to take a controlling stake of Villa – 55 per cent, with the option to assume full control at a later time.

They have injected ‘significant investment capital’ into the club – thought to be between £30-35million – and, as part of the deal, Tony Xia became co-chairman.

And now the supporters’ trust are hoping to gain clarity on the intentions of Sawiris and Edens.

“Members and supporters will no doubt be delighted to hear of the 55 per cent investment made by Messrs Sawiris and Edens,” said Aston Villa Supporters’ Trust in a statement.

“This appears to have resolved the short-term funding issue faced by our football club.

“Whilst it is acknowledged that the last two weeks must have been difficult for senior people at the club, it is disappointing that they did not respond to our request for a meeting.

“Accordingly, we have repeated that request and are hopeful that on this occasion we will be able to effect a meeting to discuss the way forward.

“It is encouraging that in the press release it was stated that the owners are stewards of Aston Villa Football Club on behalf of the fans.

“The new investment does not mean that there is a licence to spend money (FFP restricts that) but there must be a desire to have a period of stability and financial prudence under wise and experienced leadership. We will press for that.”

Sawiris is worth £5.19billion, according to Forbes. Edens is reported to have sold a firm he co-founded, Fortress Investment Group, for £2.5bn earlier this year.

Meanwhile, Villa continued to build pre-season momentum as they won 4-0 at Burton Albion on Saturday.

Jonathan Kodjia, Albert Adomah, Ritchie De Laet and Gary Gardner got the goals for Steve Bruce’s side at the Pirelli Stadium.

Their next friendly is against West Ham United at home on Wednesday (7.45pm).