Aston Villa have confirmed the appointments of Alberto Benito and Pablo Rodriguez as part of our recruitment network in an exciting development behind the scenes.
Villa will be looking to put the pieces in place in terms of the structure at the club heading into the summer transfer window, as we build a strong base on which success will hopefully follow.
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While there was disappointment last week after it was confirmed that Mateu Alemany wouldn’t be arriving in a directorial role, Villa did announce the appointment of Chris Heck as V Sports’ new President of Business Operations.
That in turn was another clear indication that ownership are keen to really strengthen the personnel group within the club to ensure we make continued progress on and off the pitch, and in terms of the sporting side, we’ve now made two more key appointments.
As per the club’s statement, Benito and Rodriguez arrive from Real Betis and Villarreal respectively, with the pair having gained plenty of experience over the years in various roles in Spain.
Further, Unai Emery will know them both well having worked with them previously, and so the Villa boss will undoubtedly have identified strengths and characteristics in their work that he believes can help us now too.
It’s added by Villa that Benito joins immediately and so he’ll no doubt get to work on our recruitment strategy for the summer, while Rodriguez will join us at the end of the season to further bolster our team.
Time will tell if Villa still intend on bringing in someone for the role that Alemany was in discussions over, or if this is a tweak to their initial plans and they’re happy with the additions of Benito and Rodriguez to give Emery the support that he may need moving forward.
Either way, the end goal is that our recruitment is successful in the coming years to strengthen and improve the squad, which in turn will hopefully see us become increasingly competitive and be in a position to win trophies and progress in the Premier League.
The influx of Spanish staff would suggest our search could focus on talents in La Liga as a priority, but with the statement lauding the network and contacts that the pair have built up over the years, they will undoubtedly have ambitious plans that stretch broader than that too.