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Roberto Di Matteo lined up by Villa

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New Villa owner Tony Xia has earmarked Roberto Di Matteo as the manager to take the club back into the Premier League at the first time of asking.

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The Chinese businessman, who bought the club from American Randy Lerner for around £60m last night, wants the former Albion and Chelsea manager to take over the reins at Villa Park.

His objective will be to get Villa out of the Championship at the first time of asking, because Xia has his sights set on bringing European football back to the club as soon as possible.

Di Matteo spent just under two seasons at the Hawthorns, before moving to Chelsea where he won the Champions League in 2012.

Former Liverpool and Tottenham director of football, Damien Comolli, is also being brought in.

He will oversee the football operations as technical director and former Everton man Keith Wyness is due to become new chief executive.

Xia, who claims to be a Villa fan who played football at college, has taken 100 per cent ownership of the club.

He immediately becomes chairman from Steve Hollis, who was in China finalising the sale yesterday.

He owns Recon Group, a pharmaceutical holding company that employs more than 35,000 people in 75 countries.

His ambitious plans to restore Villa to its former glory will be welcomed by fans who had become increasingly disillusioned with Lerner's reign, staging protests at a number of games this season.

A supporters' group began an 'Out the Door on 74' campaign, where some fans left during home matches, making a stand after 74 minutes of play to symbolise the club's formation in 1874.

Lerner penned a bizarre open letter to supporters on the club's website once the sale was confirmed, in which he likened their relegation campaign to the battle of Bannockburn.

He wrote: "Being conscious of the popular and dark pastime of wondering aloud how much was spent or lost, I should like to think that I left behind value which will hopefully ensure and benefit this beloved old club.

"Tony has built his career around infrastructure. He is certainly a hugely successful businessman but importantly for me he is passionate about architecture, site design and planning.

"Tony's excitement to develop Villa Park shone through. I remain convinced that this is a crucial part of the club's future."

Lerner bought the club in 2006 for £62.2m from Doug Ellis, who is now an honorary life president. Ellis thinks Xia's arrival will go down well with supporters.

The 92-year-old said: "The supporters feel that they will have an owner who is really an Aston Villa man.

"I only hope the new owner is seen regularly. I'd be delighted to meet the new owner and help him if he requests it any time.

"He (Lerner) didn't do anything terribly wrong other than not attending matches and being seen by supporters, that's his only mistake."