Aston Villa’s former owner Randy Lerner, despite selling his stake in the club in 2016, may still benefit from his connections to the Midlands club.
If Villa are promoted to the Premier League by beating Derby County inthe play-off final later today, Lerner is set to receive a whopping £30million.
Not only that but if Villa can stay in the Premier League for a further two seasons, Lerner would receive another £10m, according to BirminghamLive.
These details were included in the takeover deal when Tony Xia took over the club in 2016.
Current Villa owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens - bought a majority stake in the club from Xia - will have to pay the majority of the ‘three-year promotion bonus’ commitment, although Xia’s Recon Group was the original party instructed to pay it.
The current owners bought 55 per cent of Villa in a deal totalling about £60m, excluding the money used to bring in new players and replacing Steve Bruce with Dean Smith.
But for the majority of the season, it looked as though Lerner wouldn’t be getting any money.
Only a late season revival from Smith’s men has them in the play-off final, having beaten Midlands rival West Bromich Albion on penalties.
They will face Frank Lampard’s Derby County after their stunning comeback against Leeds in their semi-final to book their place at Wembley.
Villa will be hoping for a much more positive result than last years play-off final having lost 1-0 to Fulham last time out.
Coined ‘the richest game in football’, whichever team is promoted to the Premier League from the play-off final is set to receive £170m in TV money and parachute payments.
And so the 57-year-old US billionaire will have his fingers and toes crossed for his former club to reach the English top-flight so he might receive his windfall.
