Randy Lerner admits Martin O’Neill’s summer transfer budget will be ‘more modest’ than last year’s £50million – while revealing he intends to expand Villa Park’s capacity to 50,000.

In news sure to disappoint fans who had hoped for significant strengthening for a fresh assault on the Champions League, the club’s chairman and owner confirmed O’Neill will have less to spend than 12 months ago.

Lerner insisted the credit crunch was not the reason, but vowed the club will not be plunged into debt like Manchester United or Liverpool and would instead operate within its own financial limits.

He said: “I would expect to invest less this summer than last summer. When we set out to build up the squad, we probably expected year four to mean more modest spending than year three.

“With respect to the squad, that is what the manager does. With respect to the finances, it is about building the business and trying to generate more of the funding that strengthens the squad from internal operations, which means we are increasingly conscious of not adding debt.

“Once you start getting into debt as the vehicle of achieving your goals you are getting into a different game. That game is not football.”

One of those ‘internal operations’ is set to stadium expansion – but Lerner offered no timescale on when any development of Villa Park might begin.

He said: “Ultimately, we hope to do more with the stadium over time. If we can get near 50,000 seats it would be great.”