Aston Villa News Latest: Mateu Alemany is set to join Aston Villa as Football Director
Mateu Alemany, the leaving Barcelona director of football, is close to signing a contract with Aston Villa to take a senior football position with them. Alemany’s departure from Barcelona for a new “professional project” on June 30, one year before his contract was set to expire, was officially announced by the club on Tuesday.
The Spaniard has been the Barcelona’s director of football since 2021, and he has assisted in managing transfers through a trying financial time. Prior to that, he served as president and chief executive of Real Mallorca and general director of Valencia.
It’s unknown what his upcoming appointment to the Premier League club will imply for their present sporting director Johan Lange, despite the fact that Jordi Cruyff and Alemany held the same post at Barcelona, and Lange is well regarded by the Villa Park management.
Alemany and Damia Vidagany, the personal assistant to Villa head coach Unai Emery, previously collaborated at Valencia, and they will now reconnect as Villa looks to expand on Emery’s success. Since replacing Steven Gerrard in October, the Spaniard has led Villa from 14th to seventh in the Premier League standings.
Although Alemany ultimately moved to Barcelona, Vidagany was cited by the Spanish newspaper Marca in February 2021 as saying that Alemany had been selected by Newcastle United to head up their project. Newcastle came close to hiring Emery later that year before choosing Eddie Howe.
