Aston Villa signed Álex Moreno and Jhon Durán from Real Betis and Chicago Fire FC respectively in the winter market.
It was the first transfer window the Villans had after Unai Emery arrived at the club last year.
Aston Villa are currently 11th in the table, level on points with Chelsea, who are in 10th spot.
The Birmingham club are ‘preparing an ambitious project’ for the future with Emery and wanted to count on Barcelona sporting director Mateu Alemany to lead it.
That’s according to Marca, who explain the former Arsenal manager knows his compatriot well and he was the one who asked the Aston Villa board to bring in Alemany.
In order to convince the Catalan club’s chief, the Premier League side offered him a deal that would double his current salary. However, Alemany rejected the offer and said no to Aston Villa.
Marca claim it’s not the question of money for Alemany, who has a contract at the Camp Nou until 2024. He wants to fulfil his commitment to Barcelona.
Johan Lange has been the sporting director of Aston Villa since he joined them from FC Copenhagen in July 2020.
