Aston Villa stadium could be renamed to “Lotus Villa Park” suggests prospective owner Chinese Tony Xia
Incoming Aston Villa owner Tony Jiantong Xia has suggested he will alter the name of the club's stadium to feature his Lotus Health food business once his £60m takeover is completed.
The Chinese businessman agreed a deal to buy the club from current owner Randy Lerner earlier this week, but is still waiting for ratification from the Premier League and Football League.
Yet the 39-year-old has already begun discussing his plans for the newly-relegated club, claiming he could change the name of Villa's home since 1897 to 'Lotus Villa Park'.
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"One of the things we have thought about is using the Lotus Health name to rebrand Villa Park," Xia told the Beijing Times.
"Villa Park is a very historical stadium, so we will not simply and callously destroy a club's history. We want to use Villa's history and its substantial fan base around the world to also promote Lotus Health products and services globally.
"The ideal scenario would be for fans to enjoy Lotus Health products at Lotus Villa Park, it would be a great advert for both brands."
Xia is yet to pass the mandatory owners' and directors' test required of all prospective football club owners, and there are some concerns amongst Villa's fanbase after the club was forced to correct a statement that he owned controlling interests in five publicly-listed companies through his Recon Group company.
Stock exchange filings revealed that Recon only had a controlling stake in Lotus Health, and MSG specialist.
A Hangzhou-based spokesman for Recon told the Financial Times that it was still finalising acquisition deals for four other companies.