Fabien Croze has been working with Aston Villa since stepping down as USM Saran’s manager in May 2024.
Wednesday’s edition of La République du Centre indicates Croze has been scouting for Aston Villa in France, look at the top two divisions to find potential signings.
The 65-year-old retired from his managerial career a year ago but has seemingly got a little bored and is getting back into the game.
According to La République du Centre, he has become Châteauneuf sur Loire Football’s next manager. The French club were relegated from the National Championship 3 to Régional 1, which is the sixth division in France.
Châteauneuf have parted ways with Dominique Neveu and have convinced the Aston Villa scout to come out of managerial retirement.
Since leaving Saran, the 65-year-old had received several offers from cubs in the National Championship 3 [N3]. However, he didn’t accept any of them but has been tempted enough to take up the role at Châteauneuf.
The newspaper have also relayed comments from the Frenchman on why he accepted the Châteauneuf job.
“It wasn’t planned because I’m actually retired. At 65, I didn’t want to travel anymore. I actually turned down offers from other clubs, especially N3, because they were far from Orléans,” he said.
“Châteauneuf isn’t far and it’s a well-structured club. That’s why I agreed to help out.”
The report then states his new job won’t impact his role at Aston Villa as he will continue to work as the Premier League club’s scout. Croze will attend Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 games to spy on players on behalf of the Villans.
