Monchi, Aston Villa’s president of football operations, is poised to leave the club. He joined Villa a little more than two years ago, reuniting with the manager, Unai Emery, after a spell at Roma.
Monchi is thought to have wanted to return to Spain for some time but he is a long-term ally of Emery, with whom he worked at Sevilla. Villa have made a winless start to the season, scoring one league goal across three draws and two defeats.
Monchi’s arrival in July 2023 meant Damian Vidagany assumed the position of director of football operations. Monchi’s role meant he oversaw recruitment, working closely with Emery and Vidagany, as well as other staff.
During his time at Villa the club have found recruitment challenging owing to financial regulations imposed by the Premier League and Uefa; in July, Villa were fined £9.5m by European football’s governing body for breaching rules.
Emery won three Europa League titles with Sevilla in three straight years from 2014 – and a fourth with Villarreal in 2021. His Villa side embark on their first game in the competition under his stewardship against Bologna on Thursday.
