Aston Villa have officially announced the appointment of Monchi as our new President of Football Operations, after reaching an agreement with Sevilla to secure his arrival.
Monchi, 54, is widely regarded as one of the top sporting director’s in Europe given his work with the La Liga side over many years, and so it’s undoubtedly a big moment to convince him to join our project.
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As per the club’s statement, Monchi has been appointed in his new role at Villa, where he will now work closely again with Unai Emery after their spell together in Seville, while he will report directly to Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens moving forward.
It’s added that Johan Lange has been given a new title of Global Director of Football Development and International Academies, while Emery’s previous Chief of Staff, Damian Vidagany, has now been appointed as Director of Football Operations as Villa ownership have completed their management restructuring this summer.
As seen in his comments below, Sawiris is evidently delighted to have got his man, and he’ll hope he can now play an influential role moving forward in making us increasingly competitive on the pitch with his ability in the transfer market and beyond.
Further, it’s a wider-reaching position as part of V Sports, and so Monchi’s responsibilities will undoubtedly be pivotal in the overall picture as well as hopefully ushering in a period of success for Villa.
Nassef Sawiris, Chairman of AVFC said: “We are delighted to have Monchi joining us in this new position that consolidates all football responsibilities at the Group. Alongside Unai and his staff, Monchi´s arrival will add to the world class team we are assembling both on and off the pitch. He is, like Unai Emery, a serial winner. With the appointment of Chris Heck on the business side, this new structure will ensure that the Club is firing on all cylinders on the commercial side in addition to the football side to ensure that the Club’s model is sustainable and positioned well to meet our growing ambitions.”
Meanwhile, the Spaniard was equally as delighted with the move and his reunion with Emery, and he’ll now relish the opportunity to try and end our wait for silverware and become a real threat on a consistent basis.
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.”
It’s added in the statement that Monchi will start his new job from July subject to receiving his work permit, while Fabrizio Romano has reported that his contract runs until June 2026, with the option to extend for a further year.
The moves made this summer combined with the arrival of Emery last year have raised the level of excitement and expectation at Villa moving forward, as these are decisions and appointments that point towards a serious and sustained push to try and achieve success both on and off the pitch.
All eyes will now be on our summer transfer window and the strategy that we adopt to try and strengthen Emery’s squad, as if we can get the recruitment right and give him the tools that he needs to build on last year’s progression, there are hopefully a lot of good times to look forward to at Villa.