Aston Villa have got their behind-the-scenes shake up underway with the new owners in place as two senior figures have been confirmed to leave by Companies House.
The Government website reveals that senior figures Yanfang Gu, also known as Tracey Gu, and Rongtian He, also known as Ho, were both removed from their positions on the club’s board after Nassef Sawiris, who is now listed on the website as a director, and Wes Edens were confirmed to have taken charge from Dr Tony Xia.
As stated by the Birmingham Mail, Rongtian He was an assistant to Xia during his time at the club, while Tracey Gu was another director brought in by the Chinese businessman.
Opinion
This could well be the start of the changing of the guard at Villa Park, as Sawiris and Edens make their move to stamp their own authority and mark on the club. Both He and Gu were close to Xia during his time in charge and it seems the new chiefs want to exorcise his presence at the club. It might not be the exit that fans were expecting right now – with the future of Steve Bruce reportedly up in the air – but it does signal that change is underway behind the scenes. Will Bruce be next into the office to be told he is being let go of? There are a lot of ifs and buts at the club right now and with the financial situation still unclear, there is no way of predicting what the new owners have planned. Still, there is no smoke without fire and as such Bruce might want to be planning the next step in his long and distinguished managerial career.