Aston Villa chairman Nassef Sawiris has thanked Monchi for his contribution to the club as his exit has now been confirmed, but also dropped an intriguing hint regarding his successor Roberto Olabe.
Monchi did an important job at Villa during his two years with us, as while striving to improve and strengthen Unai Emery’s squad, he had to navigate difficult waters with regards to PSR and UEFA’s financial regulations.
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Our recent transfer windows have been tough going by all accounts, and so it can’t have been easy for the Spaniard to balance the two objectives of raising our talent level with targets picked by Emery, while also remaining compliant with the financial rules.
After a tumultuous summer coupled with our poor start to the season though, it seems now is the time for a change, and while Monchi will remain in an advisory role for V Sports, Olabe will replace him as President of Football Operations, and it will be fascinating to see what his influence and impact will be moving forward.
“Firstly, I would like to thank Monchi for his hard work and invaluable contribution as President of Football Operations during an exciting period at Aston Villa,” Sawiris said, as per the club’s official statement. “His commitment and vision has directly contributed to the club’s recent successes, reaching the quarter-final of the Champions League as well as qualifying for Europe for three consecutive seasons.
“We are delighted that Roberto is joining Aston Villa. He has built a reputation as someone who can spot talent that can be developed and we look forward to supporting him to achieve the ambitions we have for V Sports and Aston Villa.”
That last line is quite intriguing from Sawiris, as it perhaps hints at a change in strategy when it comes to our transfer dealings and recruitment, with an emphasis on signing young players with the view of developing them at the club.
We’ve seen the likes of Kosta Nedeljkovic and Enzo Barrenechea signed only to be moved on while countless Academy products have been sold to help balance our books over the past three years.
That in turn has seen us stagnate to a degree in terms of the current core of the first-team remaining in place despite many of those key individuals arriving before Emery was appointed, and so it does feel as though there needs to be a shift to rebuilding with a longer-term plan in mind.
It remains to be seen if that is indeed what Sawiris is hinting at or if he simply has confidence that Olabe will continue to identify talent that will ultimately help us make a profit, but we’ll likely get the first indications in the January transfer window, with the 57-year-old’s work at Real Sociedad suggesting that he will encourage promotion from within and adding younger talent with room for development.
Meanwhile, Monchi bid farewell to the club, and although it’s disappointing to see a change made given it felt as though we had a strong structure in place which was delivering success, it’s important to get the impression that there hasn’t been any falling out or such, and that the decision has seemingly been reached amicably by all parties.
“I would like to thank everyone connected with Aston Villa for the support and warmth they have shown me since I joined the club, especially Unai and Damian who I have worked especially closely with over these last two years,” Monchi said. “I must also thank our owners, Nassef Sawiris, Wes Edens and Michael Angelakis for their confidence and their support. I would also like to say a special thank you to all the staff at Aston Villa as well as the players. Lastly, a big thank you to the supporters. We have enjoyed so many special moments together and I look forward to continuing to support V Sports in an advisory role.”
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