Antonio Cordón was repeatedly linked to Aston Villa after he stepped down as Real Betis sporting director on February 20th.
These claims started to emerge days after his exit from the La Liga side and continued for weeks.
On April 21st, Canal Sur Radio journalist Tomas Furest stated the 59-year-old was ‘close’ to joining the Villans. Five days later, Mundo Deportivo backed it up and said Aston Villa were likely to be the former Betis chief’s next destination.
Apart from Unai Emery’s side, Barcelona are also reportedly said to be in the picture for the Spaniard. EFE interviewed Cordón and asked him specifically about the reports linking him to the Premier League side and Barca. His comments are relayed by ElDesmarque.
“From what I have seen and read, the first thing was Aston Villa, something that also surprised me because the reason I left Betis was not that a club was behind me, as is being demonstrated,” he said.
“With Barcelona there have been a lot of repercussions, but the only thing that unites me with Barcelona is a very cordial professional relationship with Jordi Cruyff because we have worked together and we agree a lot on everything related to football. Since then, no one has called me.”
Barcelona are looking for a new sporting director after Mateu Alemany decided to leave them on June 30th. For the past few days, multiple reports from Spain have stated Alemany is expected to join Aston Villa in the summer.
