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Aston Villa face financial nightmare after missing out on Premier League return

Villa are facing up to a financial nightmare following their failure to win promotion to the Premier League.

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The future of numerous players, and boss Steve Bruce, are now uncertain after Saturday’s 1-0 Championship play-off final defeat to Fulham consigned the club to a third season in the Championship.

Victory would have seen Villa earn £175million next season but their failure to regain top-flight status means they now face are now heading toward a summer of major upheaval.

Skipper John Terry is expected to leave, permanent deals for Sam Johnstone, Robert Snodgrass and Lewis Grabban are now off the table, while there are also fears the club might need to cash in on a prized asset such as Jack Grealish in order to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations.

There have even been reports Villa might have to consider selling their Bodymoor Heath training complex in order to balance the books.

Time is also an issue, with Villa’s involvement in the play-offs meaning they have a little over two months to carry out major reconstruction to the playing squad ahead of the new Championship campaign.

Owner Tony Xia, who watched Saturday’s game from the stands, expressed his sorrow for supporters in a message posted on Twitter before returning to China on Sunday night.

Terry, who joined Villa last summer after calling time on a trophy-laden career at Chelsea, had a clause in his contract which would likely have seen him stay had promotion been secured.

The 37-year-old will now take time to consider his options but a return to Villa is now unlikely.

Terry was too emotional to talk in the aftermath of Saturday’s defeat, telling reporters he was ‘absolutely gutted’.

The former England international had been spotted, just moments before, sharing a hug with Bruce in the player’s tunnel. Quizzed about Terry’s future, Bruce later replied: “I think that will depend on John. Of course, the discussions over the next few weeks will be surely with John, how he feels about it and what he wants to do.

“He had an option if we had have gone up but obviously we haven’t got that option now.”

Villa will meanwhile learn the extent of an injury sustained by Conor Hourihane in the coming days. The Republic of Ireland international, who was forced off in the closing stages, left Wembley with his left leg in a brace.