Aston Villa have announced that they have appointed Monchi as the club’s new President of Football Operations. The Spaniard is one of the best talent spotters in the transfer market.
He will start working with the club in July, pending the approval of his work permit.
Monchi will report to the owners of the club and will work closely alongside manager Unai Emery.
This unit is seen as fundamental to Aston Villa as they prepare a market strategy to help them in Europe.
Emery masterminded a brilliant second half in the Premier League season, finishing seventh.
Villa will play in the Europa Conference League next season and will require a bigger squad to compete on multiple fronts.
Aston Villa are looking to compete in Europe in a fiscally sustainable manner
Monchi’s appointment sees him reunite with Emery as the duo had worked together at Sevilla between 2014 and 2016, winning consecutive Europa League Titles.
The Daily Mail reports that Emery had made Monchi a top target after Barcelona director Mateu Alemany rejected Villa.
Monchi is departing Sevilla for a second time. The first saw him move to Italy and try to re-establish Roma as one of the nation’s dominant sides.
Sawiris is thrilled with the appointment, feeling the club is in safe hands to make forward progress in the coming years.
Monchi is hoping to avoid a repeat of Roma fiasco
After joining Villa, Monchi said,
“I am very excited to join Aston Villa, a great project which is striving for excellence from the Under-9s to the top level, and I completely share the vision of Mr. Sawiris and Mr. Edens. I am also delighted and can’t wait to work with Unai Emery again, one of the best managers in football,”
“After enjoying so many years with Sevilla FC and winning several European trophies with my life-long club, I look forward to building on the recent successes at Aston Villa and ensuring this colossal club continues to grow and improve.”
Monchi’s previous jaunt away from Andalusia came with Roma, although he will be hoping for a better time in England.
However, he will face notable challenges in the Premier League, not least with two clubs having almost unlimited spending power in the form of Manchester City and Newcastle United.
One of the issues with Roma was the fans didn’t take to the principal nature of his working method, selling your best players at a profit and rebuilding. Whether or not things are different with Aston Villa, however, remains to be seen.
Photo credit: IMAGO / AFLOSPORT
