Former Aston Villa striker Dean Saunders has remarkably stated that Dean Smith's newly-promoted side are a bigger club than Europa League champions Chelsea.
Villa secured a return to the Premier League and ended a three-year absence from the top-flight by defeating Derby County in last month's play-off final, while the Blues defeated Arsenal 4-1 in the Europa League final.
Chelsea's win in Baku continues a superb sequence of successes over the past 15 years for the club but Saunders believes that Villa, traditionally speaking, are still a bigger club than the Blues.
"The owner of Chelsea has got more money than Villa, so he's made Chelsea a big club, but actually traditionally Aston Villa is a bigger club than Chelsea if you go back over the years," he told TalkSport.
"If Abramovich had gone to Villa, they'd be in the same position as Chelsea. They've piled loads of money in, brought the best players, Villa haven't done that.
"If you go back over history, Aston Villa traditionally is a bigger club than Chelsea. A massive club, won everything. What would happen if Abramovich left?
"36,000 they averaged in the Championship, that's brilliant. It's a massive club, I'm not just saying it because I played for them."
While Aston Villa remain a recognisable name in football, it has now been almost 40 years since their last top-flight title and their last major trophy was the League Cup in 1995-96.
Chelsea, meanwhile, have won two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the League Cup in the past five years alone.
For all your latest Chelsea news, opinion, analysis and transfer gossip, click here
Keep up to date with the latest Chelsea news, features and exclusives from football.london via our free WhatsApp service .
Click here to enroll or text NEWS to 07557204594 and then add the number to your phone contacts book as chelsea dot london (case sensitive, with spaces) to receive daily updates and breaking news from Oliver Harbord and the team on Chelsea.
Your phone number won't be shared with any other members of the group. Click here for more information on the service.
