Despite Aston Villa being the closest to signing Monchi from Sevilla at this moment in time, the latest updates from Spain suggest it won’t be easy because of the man himself.
They come from Marca and Mucho Deporte, who both provide new information on Thursday afternoon regarding the director of football’s situation.
It was revealed on Wednesday that Aston Villa, courtesy of Unai Emery, were interested in bringing the transfer guru in after being snubbed by Mateu Alemany.
Everything seemed rather simple, since Monchi was considering leaving Sevilla anyways, but the reality is very different.
Marca have a lengthy article explaining it all in detail, with the summary being that if the Spaniard simply wanted to walk away and rest, he could do so ‘without paying a euro’.
However, because they suspect he is trying to leave and then head to another club, with ‘the shadow of Aston Villa clouding his own’, the La Liga side want him to pay the release clause in his contract.
Another issue is that Sevilla ‘believe that this is not the time to leave’, with it being the end of the season, and state ‘this should have been formalised months ago’, as ‘dictated by the sporting director’s own contract’.
They have two signings already done by Monchi and the impending arrival of Loïc Badé, leaving them in a position that, if he does walk out, they will need to find a new director of football happy with both the deals already sorted out and the idea of working with José Luis Mendilibar.
There is the option that Monchi could stay against his will, but that isn’t a scenario anyone wants, as it will only bring more discord to the club.
As for Aston Villa, they ‘could pay whatever Sevilla ask for the sporting director’, but Monchi ‘doesn’t want to leave this way’, by paying his release clause.
The Spaniard believes ‘he has earned the right to say goodbye in the most honest way possible’, with that being one ‘without pressure and without having to act against his will’.
In fact, ‘what Sevilla and people he thought he was close to, even friends, are doing to him hurts him’, and while he publicly hasn’t stated what he wants to do, Sevilla have a pretty good idea.
That’s what Mucho Deporte are saying, as they explain that Monchi ‘wants to leave, there is no doubt’, but the club are ‘asking for the money because they believe that he is going to Aston Villa with Emery’.
