Chinese buyer closing on Aston Villa deal - report

LONDON (Reuters) - Aston Villa owner Randy Lerner is closer to finding a buyer than at any time since putting the club up for sale in 2014, according to a BBC report on Wednesday.

Midlands club Villa, relegated from the Premier League after a woeful season, are reportedly being lined up by a Chinese businessman offering 60 million pounds.

The report says the unnamed prospective buyer is in the process of looking over Villa's financial record and could make an official offer by the end of the week.

Villa, ever-presents in the Premier League since it began in 1992-93, are preparing for life in the Championship (second tier) after finishing a distant last with only three wins.

Former Cleveland Browns owner Lerner paid around 60 million pounds to buy Villa in 2006.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Amlan Chakraborty)