Mateu Alemany (with added Alberto Benito and Pablo Rodriguez)

[Dave P]

Why would Sunderland be bothered?

He was making a point that everyone should be happy that us and Newcastle are becoming better, apart from Small Heath and Sunderland.

[Dave P]

Evening everyone, here’s a 3-minute video detailing everything you need to know about Mateu Alemany and why I believe he’s the perfect fit for Aston Villa for those interested. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts and am happy to answer any questions you may have! 

https://youtu.be/1OhUtGsFVYo

So a success for him was selling Coutinho lol

[The Edge]

Evening everyone, here’s a 3-minute video detailing everything you need to know about Mateu Alemany and why I believe he’s the perfect fit for Aston Villa for those interested. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts and am happy to answer any questions you may have! 

https://youtu.be/1OhUtGsFVYo

So a success for him was selling Coutinho lol

Of course it was they got a huge chunk reduced from their wage bill and 30mil in their bank account. Apart from a few magic moments Coutinho has looked like a busted flush. I'd say Alemany played a blinder for his current employer.

[Brazilian Villain]

So a success for him was selling Coutinho lol

Of course it was they got a huge chunk reduced from their wage bill and 30mil in their bank account. Apart from a few magic moments Coutinho has looked like a busted flush. I'd say Alemany played a blinder for his current employer.

I wonder if that was the first Villa had come into contact with Alemany, and it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

[Percy McCarthy]

Evening everyone, here’s a 3-minute video detailing everything you need to know about Mateu Alemany and why I believe he’s the perfect fit for Aston Villa for those interested. As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts and am happy to answer any questions you may have! 

https://youtu.be/1OhUtGsFVYo

So a success for him was selling Coutinho lol

Of course it was they got a huge chunk reduced from their wage bill and 30mil in their bank account. Apart from a few magic moments Coutinho has looked like a busted flush. I'd say Alemany played a blinder for his current employer.

We paid £17 million in the end.

[Sexual Ealing]

Plus the loan fee.

[Percy McCarthy]

Plus the loan fee.

I thought we just took over his wages and had agreed a £33m fee which we then renegotiated down.

[Beard82]

On a serious note  - whilst not pretending to know who he is, or what hell do - this has got to be a massively positive sign.

To get staff from Barca, when they would like to keep him, restates the owners are not playing games.

Though - all this still makes it harder to understand why the hell we appointed steven gerrard.  Just seems to go against so much else that we have done and seems like a temporary insanity

[Sexual Ealing]

Plus the loan fee.

I thought we just took over his wages and had agreed a £33m fee which we then renegotiated down.

Ah, ok. I was just surmising, and I suspect you'd know better than I would.

[Percy McCarthy]

Plus the loan fee.

I thought we just took over his wages and had agreed a £33m fee which we then renegotiated down.

Ah, ok. I was just surmising, and I suspect you'd know better than I would.

Don’t bet on it mate, vague recollections are all I have these days. I’ve already discovered a slight error on mob history I made on another thread recently. Very niche info though, to be fair to me - I’m more confident on all the big stuff.

[paul_e]

On a serious note  - whilst not pretending to know who he is, or what hell do - this has got to be a massively positive sign.

To get staff from Barca, when they would like to keep him, restates the owners are not playing games.

Though - all this still makes it harder to understand why the hell we appointed steven gerrard.  Just seems to go against so much else that we have done and seems like a temporary insanity

As I said on the Purslow thread:

It was someone he knew well who had met the challenges set for him up to that point well who many thought was a shoe-in to go to Liverpool in a few years time.
I can understand the logic of thinking he was good enough to be worth a look and that his profile would help us in the transfer market (and the latter bit definitely happened).

I didn't want Gerrard (there plenty of posts from the time to back me up here) and with hindsight he was totally out of his depth but I think his reputation was enough that it wasn't ridiculous to think he could be a success.

[tomd2103]

This has taken a lot of serious football journalists by surprise. This is a very serious appointment. Much like Emery was in October this will be a pivotal appointment in the total direction of the football side of the club. The reputation of Emery combined with the transfer strategy and connections of Alemany is more than about money. It’s about football influence. NSWE is build a football empire and it’s got lots of tentacles to it on and off the pitch. More than stadium expansion or match day catering, all of which are important it’s about laying foundations all across the world to benefit the entire organization with Aston Villa being the centre of it.

Pinching the sporting director of the incoming La Liga winners is some statement of intent for our club. Mugged us off already when we signed Gerrard's mate. Excellent track record. More than Emery I think this is the most critical appointment the club has made in many years. Exciting summer ahead.

It's also the suggestion that we offered him a package that Barcelona couldn't get anywhere near that really resonates.  This could be a very interesting summer indeed.

[tomd2103]

2021 profile from marca - https://www.marca.com/en/football/barcelona/2021/03/10/6048f1f9268e3e516e8b4602.
His success at Valencia
When Alemany joined Valencia in the spring of 2017 it was as a result of a recommendation from LaLiga president Javier Tebas to Peter Lim to give his struggling project a major boost.
With Valencia languishing in the lower half of the table, Alemany had a major rebuild on his hands and one of his key decisions was bringing in Marcelino as head coach, ahead of Quique Setien, who had been wanted by the previous sporting director Jose Ramon Alexanco.
The excellent relationship between the pair was an almost instant success, despite Alemany tactfully remaining silent when Lim made decisions behind his back, such as the proposed sale of Rodrigo to Atletico in 2019.
Alemany's strategy in his first year was high risk: spend big on the playing squad and bank on qualifying for the Champions League. It paid off.
Lim wanted to reduce the risk and the cost of the squad, but Alemany stood firm and he pointed to the example of Atleti as the star to follow, aiming to establish themselves as a perennial presence in the Champions League.
Alemany is known for his competitive nature, hating losing at golf or padel, his two favourite pastimes to destress.
The man from Mallorca was a futsal player in his day and also enjoys sailing.
He takes the helm at Barcelona in the midst of a storm, but he has weathered adverse conditions before in Palma and Valencia, always looking to the Mediterranean, where he has never yet capsized

[/quote]

The bit about his time at Valencia is interesting as I suppose some parallels could be drawn with us in some ways.  It's also interesting that he held up Atletico Madrid as an example of a club who have been able to establish themselves at the top table of both domestic and European football and that's what he wanted to achieve there.

[eamonn]

Would be good to get Footy's take on this.

[Toronto Villa]

Aston Villa closing in on Barcelona director of football Mateu Alemany
Unai Emery given permission to shake up the club's hierarchy after lifting the club from 14th to seventh in the Premier League table

By John Percy
3 May 2023

Aston Villa are in advanced talks with Barcelona's director of football, Mateu Alemany, over a key role at the Premier League club.

Villa have opened negotiations with Alemany and are hopeful of completing a significant coup for manager Unai Emery as he plots the club's short and long-term future.

Barcelona confirmed on Tuesday night that Alemany, 60, would leave the club at the end of this season after just over two years in his position.

Villa's owners, Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens, have given Emery permission to undertake major changes to the club's infrastructure and a move for Alemany will be regarded as a huge statement of intent.

After his appointment at Barcelona in March 2021, Alemany was involved in a number of major signings including Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha.

A move to Villa Park has been rumoured for some time but it is only now that discussions are moving forward.

It is unclear at this stage whether Alemany's proposed arrival will have any effect on the position of Johan Lange, Villa's sporting director.

Alemany could be appointed to work above Lange, who has played a key role in the club's progress since promotion to the Premier League in May 2019.

Emery has guided Villa to the brink of a European place after his appointment last year and the Basque coach is preparing for a busy summer in the transfer window.

Last month, Emery appointed Alberto Benito to Villa's scouting team. Benito will be based in Spain and it is understood that Villa will be targeting a number of players in La Liga this summer.

Villa are seventh in the Premier League table and face local rivals Wolves this weekend.