Aston Villa owner Tony Xia is allegedly aiming to offload a stake in the club to ease its ongoing financial crisis.

Documents on Companies House confirm that the Midlands outfit recently lifted a restriction on the sale of shares, suggesting that the Chinese businessman is actively seeking to cash them in.

According to the Daily Mail, Xia now has the power to create additional shares through Villa's parent company the Recon Group and potentially offload a stake in the club.

The report goes on to say that Xia will only consider selling the Championship club as a last resort and is seeking investment from China to ease their financial woes.

Players including Jack Grealish, Jonathan Kodjia and James Chester could allegedly be offloaded this summer to help balance the books.