Monchi to link up with Unai Emery at Aston Villa

There has been no official update but it appears that Monchi is set to leave Sevilla to start work with Unai Emery at Aston Villa. The English Premier League club and sports director will share the cost of paying the buy-out clause that kept him at the Sánchez-Pizjuán to complete a separation between the Andalucian club and one of its longest-standing servants.

With Emery and Monchi, two of the brightest minds in the game, Villa will begin their quest to return to and reclaim their own place in Europe.

Orta linked

Sevilla have spent the past few days looking for a replacement to head their sports management section. For now, Monchi’s old assistant, Fernando Navarro will takes over until a permanent successor is found. Víctor Orta, who recently parted ways with Leeds and spent seven years working in Nervión, is the favourite. Alongside him, other options include Braulio Vázquez, who currently works at Osasuna but who would not be too expensive to release from his contract.

Born in Cádiz, Monchi’s career started out as a goalkeeper in Sevilla’s youth academy. The 54-year-old has spent practically his whole life at the club - with a few bust-ups and heartaches along the way. He quit Sevilla to take up a post at Roma where he spent two years (2017-19) only to be lured back in March 2019.

He moved from San Fernando to Seville in 1988 as a young and promising goalkeeper, making it to Sevilla’s first team squad two years later aged just 20. He hung up his gloves in the summer of 2000 and after working as pitch delegate at the Sánchez Pizjuán, he became technical secretary and then sports director.

Key figure in Sevilla’s success story

It’s difficult to grasp how much of a crucial role Monchi played in Sevilla’s success story of the past two decades. He reshaped and crafted a side capable of competing with Europe’s best. With the one the keenest eyes for spotting emerging talent in the game, he was responsible for many of the club’s shrewdest transfer dealings. There are so many of them, it’s hard to know where to begin. He hired Joaquín Caparrós as coach and brought in a wealth of relatively unknown talent to compliment the younger players coming out of the youth academy. He tapped the South American market, striking deals with players way before they were on Real Madrid’s or Barcelona’s radars - Dani Alves, Julio Baptista, Kanouté, Carlos Bacca, Luis Fabiano, Ivan Rakitic, Kevin Gameiro, Ben Yedder...

When Sevilla returned to European competition in 2004, Monchi had already laid the foundations to set the team on the way to their most successful run in their history. The Andalucians have won a record seven UEFA Cup/Europa League titles - five of them during Monchi’s 17 years as sports director, along with a couple of Copas del Rey, a Spanish Super Cup and a UEFA Super Cup.

Sevilla have regularly figured in the Champions League group stage since 2009 and are currently ranked 12th in UEFA’s club coefficients table - quite a leap from the position they held in 2005 - 59th.

Monchi, the great architect of the current Sevilla side, leaves with a total of 11 titles to his credit with the team making it to no less than 20 finals, the next one, the UEFA Super Cup against Manchester City on 16 August 16 in Athens.