Aston Villa payment to Randy Lerner bound to wind up fans - Finance Expert

We’re delighted to welcome football finance expert Dr Daniel Plumley as our exclusive columnist, he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at Aston Villa…

Dan Plumley has insisted that Aston Villa making a new payment to Randy Lerner in their latest accounts will no doubt wind their fans up.

The Daily Mail shared the news after the Villans described the payment as "exceptional administrative expenses", as the American was rewarded for the club staying in the Premier League for three years.

Finance Expert, Plumley, shared that Lerner is a true businessman who will have signed off on the deal a long time ago when he left Villa Park, something he has now been rewarded for.

"I think you can understand it," he exclusively told Villa News.

"Whenever you see things like this that are a long-time back in the minds of the fans and when Randy Lerner exited Aston Villa, it's bound to wind a few of the fans up, I understand that.

"That deal would have been in place when he exited, again, a true businessman, it didn't quite work out for him or how he thought it would work out at Aston Villa, and by the end of it, he couldn't wait to get out of the place.

"I think he just couldn't get to grips with the English model of football given his background. It's one of those things where when so much time has passed, there's a payment there that will grind a little bit, but the club did have some relatively good times under that ownership as well.

"You have to remember the back story as well but when a long time has passed, we're bound to look at that and think that money could have been better to use elsewhere but that deal will have been signed a long time ago as well."

In other Aston Villa news, the future of this loanee hangs in the balance as contract talks await.