Aston Villa director of football Monchi did not join the club this summer for the money on offer, but was ‘seduced’ by the idea of reuniting with Unai Emery.
That’s according to Aston Villa’s director of operations Damià Vidagany, who insists there was more to the appointment than potential personal riches.
Monchi joined Aston Villa as their director of football in the summer, electing to bring his second spell at Sevilla to a premature end to do so.
He had been with the Spanish side since 2019, his second period at the club after a previous 17 year spell between 2000 and 2017 before he joined Roma for an unsuccessful two year stint in Italy.
He had been very well thought at Sevilla despite his second spell being nowhere near as successful as the first one and various transfers not working out for him or the club.
There was some debate that Monchi had only moved because of the money on offer but Vidagany insists that was not the case.
“I have a great respect for Sevilla FC , for Pepe Castro and José María del Nido, but I believe that Monchi does not leave Sevilla in any case for money,” he said.
“He is very happy at Villa. But I can say this very loudly because I know the conditions that he had and that he has.
“Monchi leaves there because, first, he would have his reasons; and, second, because he is seduced by working again with Unai Emery and embarking on an ambitious project but that also adjusts a little to what he has been managing.
“I think he thought that the time had come to prove himself in a competition like the Premier, which I will not be so presumptuous to say is the best in the world, because LaLiga and the Bundesliga, you have to have respect for them, but they do have the most sought-after professionals today.”
