While there is talk that Aston Villa are very close to appointing Mateu Alemany as their next director of football, the chief will be faced with a problem as soon as he takes over.
In case you were wondering, it will be a Philippe Coutinho shaped one, according to Mundo Deportivo, as the Spaniard knows the Brazilian very well from their time together at Barcelona.
In fact, Alemany was the one who put together the deal that eventually saw the player head to Aston Villa on a permanent deal for €20m after a successful six-month loan.
Having already needed to ‘resolve the situation’ of Coutinho at Barcelona, he ‘will now have to do the same’ at Villa Park.
That’s because the player ‘is not part of Unai Emery’s plans’, and it’s said Aston Villa have ‘already put him up for sale’.
Alemany managed to get rid of Coutinho’s wages at Barcelona once, and his first port of call will probably be a similar one once he takes over in England.
We now await the confirmation of the chief’s arrival at Aston Villa.
