By Frank Dalleres
Copyright cityam
Aston Villa transfer guru Monchi looks set to pay for the club’s dismal start to the season by leaving the club after little more than two years.
The Spaniard, a close ally of current Villa boss Unai Emery from their time at Sevilla, is widely reported to be departing amid a troubled period for the Midlands outfit.
Villa are yet to win this season, languish in the relegation zone of the Premier League and were dumped out of the Carabao Cup by Brentford.
They were also the last club in England’s top seven divisions to score a goal, a drought they finally ended on Sunday in a 1-1 draw with 10-man Sunderland.
It follows a difficult summer transfer window in which Villa’s trading was severely hampered by the effect of their previous spending on profitability and sustainability rules.
In Monchi’s first season the club spent heavily to sign the likes of Moussa Diaby, Pau Torres and Morgan Rodgers but the investment reaped qualification for the Champions League that year.
The following season Villa sold the likes of Jhon Duran, Diaby and Douglas Luiz to mitigate the recruitment of Amadou Onana, Ian Maatsen and Donyell Malen but the team finished sixth, narrowly missing out on the Champions League.
This summer’s activity was low-key, with Evan Guessand the only player signed for a significant fee and Jacob Ramsey departing for Newcastle United.
The window was largely overshadowed by uncertainty over the future of goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, who ultimately stayed despite the club seemingly being willing to sell.
Monchi exit continues Villa shake-up
It is the latest shake-up at Villa, who hired Italian former Juventus and Roma exec Francesco Calvo as president of business operations in June.
Monchi – full name Ramon Rodríguez Verdejo – arrived at Villa as president of football operations with a reputation as one of world football’s foremost sporting directors.
The former goalkeeper made his name at Sevilla, the club he played for, in a 17-year spell as director of football, where he helped the club punch above their weight through smart trading.
Among the stars he is credited with unearthing are Sergio Ramos, Jose Antonio Reyes, Dani Alves, Julio Baptista and Ivan Rakitic.
After leaving Sevilla in 2017 he spent almost two years at AS Roma, with mixed results, before returning to the Spanish club.
Monchi’s departure comes three days after the club congratulated him on his 56th birthday in a post on X. Responding, he wrote: “Thank you so much. Always UTV [Up The Villa]!!!”.
