Who will be the biggest European football club in five years’ time? Barcelona, Manchester United, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich? Nope - Aston Villa, at least according to wildly optimistic (or delusional) club chairman Tony Xia.
We all know how notoriously bad footballing legend Pele is with his predications, but the Villa bigwig has blown the Brazil great out of the water when it comes to poor punditry.
Asked on a Twitter Q&A where he sees the Villans - relegated so miserably from the Premier League last season - in five years, he responded by stating that he believes they will be “the top club in Europe with the highest number of fans all over the world”.
I'm here at @TwitterUK ready to answer your questions. Use #AskTheChairman to send yours in! pic.twitter.com/BAFECleGcQ
— Aston Villa FC (@AVFCOfficial) August 10, 2016
Where do you see villa in 5 years time? @Dr_TonyXia #AskTheChairman
— Sam Willetts (@willows17) August 10, 2016
The top club in Europe with the highest number of fans all over the world. #AskTheChairman https://t.co/NG8Gg8LFjV
— Aston Villa FC (@AVFCOfficial) August 10, 2016
It’s been a crazy footballing year, with Leicester winning the English top flight and Iceland doing so well at Euro 2016, but if Xia’s prediction comes true it will make both achievements appear positively mundane.
Of course, maybe he’s talking about his latest game of Football Manager.
> ..... - Goal