Aston Villa remain in the Championship following their playoff final defeat to Fulham last term and it looks like being a tough old summer for manager Steve Bruce.

A report from the Birmingham Mail has revealed just exactly what Villa need to contend with this summer, including the need for owner Tony Xia to either sell the club or seek a cash injection in order to finance new signings.

Xia is unlikely to bankroll another spending spree at Villa Park after seeing his attempts at doing so fail over the last couple of seasons, and it looks like manager Bruce is going to have to rely on selling big name talents such as Jack Grealish before being able to delve into the market.

The report also reveals that Villa will be giving chances to their returning loan players, such as Tommy Elphick, Aaron Tshibola, and Gary Gardner.

The Villans were beaten by Fulham in the playoff final last season, and will be hoping to be able to put together a similar run this season. However, the squad was helped along last season with various loan signings such as Robert Snodgrass and Lewis Grabban, but it is unlikely those big money loan deals will be renegotiated this season.

Villa fans, what do you make of this news? A bad summer ahead? Let us know in the comments!