Aston Villa hoping to seal Monchi appointment

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Aston Villa hoping to seal Monchi appointment

Aston Villa are hoping to finalise a deal to bring Sevilla sporting director Monchi to the club, sources have confirmed to 90min.

The 54-year-old is widely regarded as one of the top sporting directors in world football having done wonders with Sevilla since taking charge in 2000.

His only time away from Sevilla came in 2017 when he had two years in Italy with Roma before returning. Monchi later rejected the chance to join Arsenal and link-up with former Sevilla boss Unai Emery, but now sources have confirmed to 90min that he will be given another opportunity to work with the manager.

The pair had three years together at Sevilla before Emery left for Paris Saint-Germain in 2016 but they have remained close.

Now Monchi has the chance to move to Villa Park with Emery after he was offered a deal by the club. Villa have moved for Monchi after the recent departure of Christian Purslow and also missing out on Barcelona’s Mateu Alemany - who decided against joining the club after initially agreeing to make the move.

Europa League winners Sevilla are demanding nearly £2m in compensation for Monchi, whose contract still has one year left to run. It is believed Monchi had informed the La Liga side that he was planning to leave this summer even before Villa's approach.

Villa sources have confirmed to 90min that an offer has been made and are now waiting for confirmation of his decision.

Sevilla president Jose Castro still hopes to persuade Monchi to continue with the club and told Canal Sur over the weekend: "It is just four days since we won the title, but this issue has come quickly.

"It has been a bit unexpected, but we hope he will reconsider and continue with us. If he reconsiders, there are no wounds that cannot be healed, especially with Monchi, who is one of us.

"We must not forget that he already left once and I was the one who told him that the doors were still open."