Former Aston Villa chairman Sir Doug Ellis has no doubt it would be "ideal" for the club if someone similar to Manchester City owner Sheikh Mansour could take them over.

Villa's current owner Randy Lerner, the American entrepreneur who bought the midlands outfit from Ellis in 2006, on Monday declared his intention to put them up for sale.

City have just won their second Barclays Premier League title since their Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008.

And Ellis told Sky Sports News: "He (Lerner) has admitted he would like to sell, we are all waiting to see who it is to, and we have to find someone who has the money - someone equivalent to the Sheikh, who I met at Manchester City the other week.

"He is a delightful chap, is passionate beyond measure and has billions of pounds of money.

"He is a young lad who, I must admit, would be the ideal person, if in fact we found the right one for Aston Villa."

Villa finished the 2013/14 Premier League campaign last weekend in 15th position and their final position has been only just above the relegation zone for the past three seasons.

But the club enjoyed relative success in the first few years of Lerner's ownership, securing three successive sixth-placed finishes up to the summer of 2010.

And Ellis said of Lerner: "He hasn't been bad for Aston Villa. In my view, he was the right one to choose at the time."

Villa boss Paul Lambert and chief executive Paul Faulkner are reportedly set to fly out to the United States this week for talks with Lerner.