It has become a trait of relegated Premier League clubs to throw a lot of money at their sides.

Sometimes it works, but in the case of Aston Villa, it certainly has not.

It was recently revealed that Villa had been borrowing money on a monthly basis in order to pay for wages and other overheads.

But recently that money stopped. Tony Xia and the Villa were not seen as safe to loan to.

Now, they are faced with the prospect of having to sell off huge numbers of their squad in order to survive as a club. Some fans are worried that the board will just try to borrow more money to make the problems go away. But that is not what should be done.

What needs to happen?

Tony Xia and Co. need to heed the warning they have been given and put in place changes so that the club are able to survive. It's time for them to be sensible.

Their priority this summer must be, quite simply, to create a sustainable club that the Aston Villa faithful will be able to support in a top league for years to come. If they continue to throw money at the problem they may end up with no club at all.

How is this achieved? 

Step one must be to sell the big earners. The likes of Ross McCormack, Chris Samba, Glen Whelan, Henri Lansbury and Micah Richards will all be on huge amounts of money, many of whom have not played anywhere near enough to warrant the wages.

If the club are to become more sustainable they must get these players off the wage bill. It might hurt fans initially to see their club selling some of their best players, but the fact is that they have to.

Payment of the players wages over the last couple of months have gone right down to the wire with last minute loans bailing them out twice.

Step two is to have a very shrewd transfer window. The players they do have to sell must be replaced for as little cost as possible. This should be done through a mix of loans, and delving into the Football League to find some hidden gems.

Finally, more faith has to be put in the club's academy players. The likes of James Bree and Keinan Davis need to be trusted to do the job, rather than just drip fed appearances through out the season in cup games.

Aston Villa are a club on the edge, and this may be their last chance to step back from it before they fall into the abyss.