Aston Villa have confirmed that Christian Purslow is set to step down as CEO and director at the club, thus intensifying speculation of an imminent appointment.
Purslow joined Villa in September 2018 and has since played a key role in our progression on and off the pitch, which has seen us make important and positive strides forward.
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Having been a key figure for owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, his exit comes as a slight shock, but amid both confirmed and touted changes to the management infrastructure at the club on both sporting and business levels, question marks had been raised over Purslow’s future at Villa.
While he naturally made some mistakes along the way, perhaps the most glaring of which was the appointment of Steven Gerrard, Purslow has played an important part in helping us get to where we are now both in terms of being a stable Premier League side with lofty ambitions moving forward and a financially-sound club too after our previous concerns.
In turn, it was no surprise to hear both Sawiris and Edens speak highly of him, and now it remains to be seen who fills that role with Marca reporting that Monchi has been heavily linked with a position at Villa, while Chris Heck was appointed as President of Business Operations for V Sports Group last month, as per the club’s statement.
“We would like to thank Christian for his outstanding leadership of the Club over the last five seasons,” a joint statement from Sawiris and Edens read. “He has overseen a transformation of the Club both on and off the pitch and delivered the ambitious turnaround plan he presented to us when he arrived in 2018. We are grateful for all he has done.”
Meanwhile, there was also a comment from Purslow as he thanked everyone at the club and the supporters, and as he detailed how far we’ve come in the last five years, it does magnify the part he has played in helping that become reality.
With that in mind, it’s hoped that whoever is trusted with taking up the same role or similar moving forward is able to build on that foundation now and continue to take us in the right direction as we look to become increasingly competitive both on and off the pitch.
“It has been a total privilege to lead Villa for the last five years,” Purslow said. “I am proud that I leave the Club in a much better position on and off the pitch than when I arrived. We are re-established in the Premier League; we now have a very competitive professional Women’s team; we have outstanding Academies for boys and girls; we have created a world class training ground and secured planning permission for an expansion and modernisation of our wonderful stadium.
“Thank you to everyone at Villa and our supporters who have made my time here so enjoyable.”