Since announcing his retirement, former Levante captain Juanfran took several courses to make sure that he will be still associated with football post hanging up his boots.
The former Spain international did several courses on coaching and management and that has helped him to land a scouting job with Aston Villa, and he’ll be helping the English club in identifying talents in his home country and Portugal.
Earlier this campaign, the English outfit appointed Jesús García Pitarch as their new sporting director, who has previously worked in the same capacity at Valencia and Atletico Madrid.
It was Villa’s new chief who offered Juanfran the scouting job.
“I did not allow the person [Pitarch] who offered this job to finish the sentence. It is a privilege to work for a club like Aston Villa. Everyone identifies Villa as a big club from England and it’s a dream come true,” Juanfran told Marca.
“We got in touch. It was a great challenge and a responsibility and I am very grateful to him [Pitarch] for giving me the opportunity to work with them.
“It means that he supports my professional and personal career because we have known each other for many years, and I am very grateful.”
After a poor start to the season, the Championship side parted ways with Steve Bruce in October and replaced him with Dean Smith as their new manager.
The same month, they appointed their former player and Chelsea legend John Terry as Smith’s assistant.
Things have been better for Villa in recent times and they’ll hope the addition of Pitarch, Juanfran, along with Terry, could only improve their chances of returning to the Premier League.
