Aston Villa complete deal for renowned transfer chief Monchi as he reunites with Unai Emery and the pair look to emulate the success they had working together at Sevilla
- Aston Villa complete deal for legendary transfer chief Monchi from Sevilla
- The Spaniard will be given title of president of football operations at Villa Park
- Monchi worked with Villa boss Unai Emery in his successful spell as Sevilla boss
Aston Villa have finally completed a deal to hire legendary transfer chief Monchi from Sevilla.
The Spaniard – full name Ramon Rodriguez Verdejo – has developed a reputation as one of the best talent spotters of this century and will start work in July, pending work permit approval.
His title will be president of football operations and he will report to co-owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens.
Monchi and Villa boss Unai Emery are reunited after a successful spell at Sevilla that brought consecutive Europa League titles from 2014-16.
Mail Sport reported on June 7 that Emery had made Monchi his top target for a senior strategic role, after the club being turned down by Barcelona director Mateu Alemany last month. With negotiations proving complicated, Villa officials travelled to Seville earlier this week to seal the agreement.
Aston Villa have completed a deal for Monchi as president of football operations at the club
Monchi (right) has previously worked with Aston Villa manager Unai Emery at Sevilla
The new structure saw Christian Purslow depart as chief executive on June 12 and Johan Lange, who had been sporting director, given the title ‘global director of football development and international academies.’
Monchi said: ‘I 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.’
Monchi, 54, has been at Sevilla since 2000, save a two-year spell at Roma from 2017-19. He nearly joined Arsenal in 2019, only to choose to go back to Sevilla after leaving Roma.
Christian Purslow departed his role as Aston Villa’s chief executive earlier this month
Under Monchi’s guidance, Sevilla made a series of superb low-cost signings who were sold on at significant profit.
Brazilian star Dani Alves and Croatian midfielder Ivan Rakitic are perhaps the most famous, though Villa paid £30m for defender Diego Carlos a year ago – a £15m profit for Sevilla.
He also developed a youth system that produced Sergio Ramos, one of the most successful players of the modern era.
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