Aston Villa chief executive Tom Fox has told supporters that the club have the potential to close the gap on the Premier League's biggest sides.
American owner Randy Lerner and manager Paul Lambert have both been targets of criticism in recent times as the team continue to flirt with the relegation zone, and Fox believes that there is no quick fix for a club that has been in the Premier League since its inception.
"The game has changed significantly and financially it has moved on considerably. The top five clubs from a revenue perspective are in a fairly different place to where we are now," Fox told reporters.
"I think top five is going to be very difficult for us in the period of three to five years, but we can get much closer to them in five years' time.
"Ultimately we want to get ourselves back into a place where we can at least see those clubs and be within touching distance of a maybe a place in Europe."
Villa are currently 15th in the Premier League, just three points above the relegation zone.
