Aston Villa president of football operations Monchi is set to leave the club, according to multiple club sources.
Monchi joined Villa in 2023 from Sevilla after a spell with Roma and two stints with Sevilla in La Liga.
Villa have made a poor start to the season under head coach Unai Emery, scoring only one league goal in five games, losing three and drawing two.
The Athletic has contacted Villa for comment.
Monchi, a former goalkeeper, had a nine-year playing career with Sevilla, retiring in 1999 before becoming the club’s sporting director the following year after the side were relegated to the Spanish second tier.
Over the next 17 years, he helped guide the side back to the top flight and establish itself on the European stage, winning eight trophies, including the Europa League in 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Monchi left the club in 2017 and signed a four-year deal with Italian club Roma as their sporting director but saw out less than two years of his contract, returning to Sevilla in April 2019 and helping the team win two more Europa League titles before leaving again in June 2023.
With Monchi at the helm for the 2023-24 season, Villa enjoyed a successful campaign, finishing fourth in the league and qualifying for the Champions League.
Why this is a huge moment for Villa
Monchi had come under growing scrutiny from supporters for the perceived lack of improvement within Villa’s squad.
Since joining the club in the summer of 2023 at the request of manager Unai Emery, Monchi has been in charge of player recruitment. However, as The Athletic explained last week, Emery has the overarching say on signings, with Monchi’s remit being to facilitate the former’s wishes.
Inescapably, though, Villa’s transfer strategy has come under question. Nine of the starting XI that featured against Sunderland were already Villa players before Emery’s arrival in October 2022, with a lack of squad turnover appearing to the squad’s current stagnancy.
This is a monumental departure in Villa’s hierarchy, with Monchi forming the triangle of power alongside Emery and director of football operations, Damian Vidagany. The trio had been extremely close and were the front-facing figures in Villa’s remarkable rise.
However, Monchi’s exit is a clear indication that Villa acknowledge they need to improve recruitment and be intelligent with incomings, having faced and breached UEFA sanctions previously and given their continual run-in with the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules (PSR).
(VALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images)