Aston Villa have confirmed the appointment of Francesco Calvo as our new President of Business Operations, and he’ll begin work at the start of next month.
The recruitment process has been in full swing over the past month or so after it was announced that Chris Heck would be leaving the post at the end of the season after a successful, but contentious, stint at the club.
READ MORE: Emi Martinez responds to question amid doubts over Villa future
While the American can be credited with overseeing growth and increase in our revenue as we look to become increasingly competitive on and off the pitch, not all of his decisions were popular with supporters, particularly those linked to ticket prices and the cost knock-on effect for many fans.
Nevertheless, as we continue to try to move towards a more sustainable model by significantly improving our income and revenue to avoid having to keep selling key players to balance our books and comply with PSR and UEFA’s financial rules, Heck’s work will hopefully have set a solid foundation for his successor to build upon.
As per the club’s statement, Calvo has been appointed as our new President of Business Operations, and the Italian brings a wealth of experience with him after previous stints with Juventus, Barcelona and Roma.
Villa’s owners would undoubtedly have been meticulous in their choice for the position as it’s imperative that we continue to move in the right direction off the pitch to keep pace with our improvement on it, and Calvo is excited about the challenge ahead, while Nassef Sawiris certainly sounded pleased with the decision on their preferred candidate.
Francesco Calvo: “It is a great honour for me to join this Club at such an exciting time. Everyone in football knows the history of and passionate support for Aston Villa. In the past few years, we’ve seen this begin to be matched by success on the pitch and progress off it under the ambitious ownership of V Sports. I look forward to working with the Chairman, the Board, Unai Emery and everyone at Aston Villa to continue driving this great institution forward.”
Nassef Sawiris, Executive Chairman of Aston Villa: “We are pleased to welcome Francesco Calvo to Aston Villa. He has an outstanding track record at some of Europe’s biggest clubs and brings a huge amount of experience. Our ambition is for Aston Villa to be competing at the very top level in everything we do, both on and off the pitch. Francesco’s skills, relationships and experience will prove invaluable in making that ambition a reality.”
In conjunction with Emery, Monchi and the rest of the management team, Calvo will have a critical role to play in our ongoing progression and development into a genuine contender for major honours in the coming years, and while it will likely be similar in that not all of his decisions will prove to be popular, they will no doubt all be made with the best business interests of the club in mind.