Next Aston Villa manager: Roberto Di Matteo told to expect toughest challenge of career

Roberto Di Matteo has been told to expect the toughest challenge of his career if he becomes Villa's next manager.

The Italian is this week expected to be named the claret and blues new boss, having been identified by Villa's prospective new owner, Tony Xia, as the right man to take the club back into the Premier League.

Di Matteo won promotion from the Championship with Albion at the first time of asking in 2010 and famously lead Chelsea to Champions League glory two years later.

But former Holte End hero Garry Thompson believes the task of turning round Villa, after a nightmare campaign both on and off the pitch, is considerably harder than anything Di Matteo has faced before.

Villa won just three league games during a season which was also saw several players, most notably Joleon Lescott and Gabby Agbonlahor, incur the wrath of supporters for their off-field exploits.

Thompson said: "It is an enormous job. There are a number of players sitting there with time on their contracts who need moving on.

"He is going to very quickly decide who to keep and who to move on. The whole culture of the dressing room needs changing."

A busy week appears in prospect at Villa Park, with Xia and his advisors hopeful their £75million takeover will be rubber-stamped by the Football League and Premier League in the coming days. The Beijing businessman has claimed the new manager will be given up to £50million to spend on rebuilding Villa's squad and is understood to have ambitious plans which includes buying other clubs around the globe.