Aston Villa were forced to hand over £10m to former owner Randy Lerner in 2022 in a bizarre legacy deal agreed by ex-chairman Tony Xia.
Xia, who purchased the club with his company Recon Group from Lerner in 2016, promised the sum to Lerner if the Birmingham club were able to stay in the Premier League for three consecutive seasons following their 2019 promotion.
Lerner previously received an enormous £30m payout when Villa were promoted that year, three years after handing over to Xia.
Despite Xia selling his majority stake in the club to its current owners, Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, in 2018, Villa remained beholden to the liability.
The Chinese businessman had a tumultuous tenure at the helm of the club, leaving the club teetering on the edge of administration.
Following the sale to Sawiris and Edens in 2018, Xia stayed on as a minority owner and co-chairman, before being bought out entirely in August 2019.
In a statement published alongside the release of the club's 2021-22 accounts, Villa cited Lerner's payment as one of several 'exceptional administrative expenses'.
It went on to explain: 'This payment was due as per the agreement entered into when Recon Group Ltd bought the Club in 2016 and provided that if Recon Group and it's Guarantor – Jian Tong Xia – failed to pay the sum, it would fall to the Club to settle liability.'
Before purchasing Aston Villa, Lerner was the majority owner of the NFL franchise, the Cleveland Browns, which he inherited from his father Alfred.
The American investor sold the Browns in 2012, and currently has an estimated net-worth of £1.1bn.
The release of the club's accounts also showed that Villa made a £400,000 profit in the last financial year, despite a drop of around £5m's worth of revenues, to £178.4m.
By comparison, Liverpool, who competed on all fronts in nearly every single match of the calendar, made a pre-tax profit of £7.5m.
Villa's coffers were buoyed by the sale of Jack Grealish to Manchester City when he became the British record transfer for £100m ahead of the 2021-22 season, and the club invested in new players such as Emi Buendia, Danny Ings and Lucas Digne.
Villa have had a rocky February under manager Unai Emery, losing against Leicester, Manchester City, and Arsenal and are 11th in the Premier League.
But a handy 2-0 win against Everton on the road may have stemmed the poor run. Villa face Crystal Palace at Villa Park in their next Premier League clash on Saturday.