Aston Villa head coach Roberto Di Matteo had praised the club's Chinese owner, Dr. Tony Xia, for the "immediate impact" made in the recently closed English summer transfer window despite being with the club for only two months.

The Birmingham Mail reported that Di Matteo was all praises about Xia's all-out financial backing of his summer spending plans, which had made it a huge success for the Premier League-demoted side.

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Xia only took over reins last June from former owner Randy Lerner, but he said to have "completely turned it around in the summer transfer window just gone", the report said.

Villa pulled off nine new signings this summer that cost them about £55 million. However, it was the selling that reportedly "pleased the claret and blue faithful most".

A large number of players were sold on permanent deals this past window, including Brad Guzan, Ciaran Clark, Joleon Lescott, Jores Okore, Jose Angel Crespo, Kieron Richardson, Joe Bennett, Idrissa Gana, Charles N'Zogbia, Scott Sinclair, Callum Robinson and Adama Traore, giving the club much-needed funds for their comeback attempt to the English top flight.

Even though the team gained profit from the transfers, Xia still had to disburse £30 million from his own pockets to pull off Di Matteo's summer plans, which is something the 46-year-old Italian mentor is quite thankful for.

"He's been great. He's been absolutely fantastic from day one. We knew that we needed to make some changes," Di Matteo said.

"He's spent a lot of time here to be close to the dealings in the transfer market which has helped us tremendously. He is very ambitious and has great plans for the club and it's very much welcomed," the coach added.

Meanwhile, Xia had confirmed that Aston Villa had inquired about Hull City's Abel Hernandez as the club looks to further bolster its attacking options, as per 90min.

Xia is said to be willing to pay a Championship-record fee to snag the striker, but he may have to do it in January when the winter transfer window opens.

TagsChina Football, Premier League, Aston Villa, Roberto Di Matteo, Tony Xia