Mateu Alemany (with added Alberto Benito and Pablo Rodriguez)

[Meanwood Villa]

I’m looking forward to us being a basket case like Spurs.

There's a fair chance we'll finish above them this season.

Five to 3 on Saturday. Good times.

[LeeB]

I think Spurs have been fortunate to have been carried by almost Francis levels of one-man teammery and without Kane they'd be Everton.

[SaddVillan]

From The Athletic:

Why Aston Villa turned to Alrmany as Project Emery gathers pace.


Unai Emery sought a number of assurances from Aston Villa before agreeing to take on the challenge of lifting his prospective employers away from relegation trouble and into the top half of the Premier League.

He wanted an entire backroom team installed alongside him, including personal assistant Damia Vidagany. The hierarchy agreed to Vidagany, who has played an important role at the club so far — a conspicuous presence at the head coach’s side at press conferences.

Next was the guarantee of significant backing in the transfer window. Villa, again, agreed and will head into the summer with ambitious plans to strengthen the squad further.

Perhaps the most interesting element of Project Emery, though, will be how the management structure looks when the incoming Mateu Alemany leaves his role as director of football at Barcelona on July 1 to take up a similar position at Villa.

Alemany’s exact title with Villa has yet to be determined. The finer details are still to be ironed out, too, over what his arrival means for the current sporting director Johan Lange, who is valued by the owners Nassef Sawiris and Wes Edens. Lange is expected to continue in a senior role.

What is certain, however, is that a new triangle of power — Emery, Alemany and Vidagany — is about to be established at Villa Park.

Their alliance has been a long time in the making. All three spent time at Valencia, albeit during different periods, and could have been in office together at Newcastle United had the Saudi-backed Public Investment Fund had their way in recent years. Emery was their preferred choice to replace Steve Bruce at Newcastle in 2021 before Eddie Howe later accepted the job. Alemany was also previously targeted to direct all football operations.

“He (Alemany) was the person they had chosen to take the club forward,” Vidagany told Spanish publication Marca. “He has always been clear he wanted a sporting project.”

It was only natural that a move to Villa, a club on the up with ambitious owners and a modern football infrastructure already in place, would appeal. That Villa have been able to prize away a key decision-maker at La Liga leaders Barcelona is telling. It shows the strength of their project and how serious the plans are for the future.

Alemany will land a big pay rise when he leaves Spain for the Midlands. Barcelona, meanwhile, have made it known that they could not match the salary Villa offered due to their ongoing financial concerns.

But it was not as simple as Alemany leaving for more money or to work alongside people he knows well.

There were other internal issues at Camp Nou that swayed his decision.

Disagreements with the manager Xavi and board members over squad planning caused some friction and persuaded Alemany that he should listen to other offers. Villa, with their grand plans, was an enticing prospect. When he arrives, he will work closely with both Emery and Vidagany, charged with moving the club forward.

Alemany held important roles at Real Mallorca and Valencia in the past.

He oversaw negotiations when the Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o left Mallorca for Barcelona in 2004. The Catalan club’s president, Joan Laporta, took an instant liking to him during those discussions, identifying Alemany as a person with whom he wanted to link up in the future — an ambition that was realised when Laporta hired him at Camp Nou in March 2021.

Barca, a club working within serious financial constraints, have performed well this season and Alemany is credited with helping smooth operations during difficult times.

There’s still work to be done before he signs off in the summer. Yet, when he joins Villa, he is expected to be based permanently at the Bodymoor Heath training complex.

Emery has already identified players he wants to sign in the months ahead — the club will offer Real Madrid’s Marco Asensio a lucrative alternative to extending his time in Spain — and Alemany will help deliver some of the top targets. Recruiting from Spain is expected with Villa having also secured a new scout, Alberto Benito, who is based in the country and will be charged with monitoring top local talent.

Emery has known Benito for some time. They roomed together as players at Spanish side Toledo in the mid-to-late 1990s. Benito was also the sporting director at Almeria when Emery took them into the Spanish top flight for the first time in 2007. His most recent job was working as the chief scout at Real Betis.

Villa’s search for new players will not be exclusively restricted to La Liga.

They will continue to scour other markets in search of value for money as Emery looks for players in all departments in the months ahead. Lange still has a part to play in Villa’s future, too, and with Sawiris and Edens’ portfolio growing through their joint venture V Sports, more senior roles within the company are likely to be created in the future.

V Sports recently purchased a 46 per cent stake in Portuguese club Vitoria Guimaraes and also entered into a partnership with the Egyptian academy ZED FC.

The billionaire co-owners are keen to expand further and continue shaping a multi-club model. They rate Lange highly and want him around in the future to assist.

Their pursuit of Alemany was not a reflection of Lange’s performance. It was a move sanctioned to support Emery and continue the pledge to provide the elite manager with all the tools he needs to succeed in his role at the club. Lange and Emery enjoy a good working relationship and, clearly, some of the structures and processes that are already in place are helping the club thrive.

Under the guidance of CEO Christian Purslow and Lange, Villa have built a squad capable of challenging for Europe. The club will finish in the top half of the Premier League for the first time in 12 years and a number of players have grown significantly in value.

Part of the plan when re-establishing the club in the top flight following promotion in 2019 was to sign players with potential. To that end, Emi Martinez, Matty Cash, Ollie Watkins, Boubacar Kamara, Emi Buendia and Jhon Duran have all made their international debuts since joining.

The infrastructure is in place, too.

Lange helped set up a new research team that is staffed with analysts and data scientists, and has enhanced the club’s player care department, now overseen by Phil Roscoe. Youth development is improving and Villa have a successful loan programme, managed by Adam Henshall and Mile Jedinak, that will see the likes of Cameron Archer, Aaron Ramsey, Jaden Philogene, Tim Iroegbunam, Finn Azaz and Louie Barry all return this summer with a spring in their step. Not all of them will make it but, if Villa do look to sell, they will make a big profit.

With so many highly qualified experts already working in important roles at the club behind the scenes, Emery has inherited a solid structure at the club, allowing him to settle in quickly and focus largely on coaching. There are, therefore, no plans to rip up what is working well or to move on multiple members of staff. Much of what is in place at present is working impressively.
Yet Sawiris and Edens are keen to give Emery more control over the football decisions and continue supporting him as the club’s aims and expectations grow.

The owners still want to maximise what they bring into the club through various revenue streams. That is why season ticket prices have been increased and is also one of the reasons why commercial expert Chris Heck, who previously worked as the president of the NBA team Philadelphia 76ers, has been targeted to take up a senior management role. But Villa’s net spend of around £40million ($50.6m) over the last two seasons means there is a little more freedom to invest in the squad this summer.

Giving Emery — now the most powerful figure at the club behind the co-owners — what he wants was always part of the plan when he signed in November.

The Spaniard, who has managed at Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain and won the Europa League a record four times with Sevilla and Villarreal, made it clear to Sawiris that he would only be joining on his terms and if such assurances were given. How far the blank canvas stretches remains to be seen.

A brilliant run of results that has seen Villa win 14 of their 22 matches under Emery has given the manager further credit in the bank. With Alemany joining him over the summer, Villa are already looking in fine shape and the transfer window is not yet even open.

Now to make the right decisions on recruitment as this upwardly mobile and ambitious club target a place in the top six.

[Mister E]

From The Athletic:

Why Aston Villa turned to Alrmany as Project Emery gathers pace ...

Now to make the right decisions on recruitment as this upwardly mobile and ambitious club target a place in the top six.

Brings a bit of a lump to the throat - after nearly 60 years of supporting Villa and thinking that the 1970-1982 period was 'it', I am beginning to think we may see another golden era.

Either that, or I've got a mild version of Covid!!

[LeeB]

That was a lovely read, thanks.

It would appear absolutely everything we could wish for in terms of actually, genuinely trying to become successful is being done, absolutely no place for cutting corners or going through the motions.

[Brazilian Villain]

That was a lovely read, thanks.

It would appear absolutely everything we could wish for in terms of actually, genuinely trying to become successful is being done, absolutely no place for cutting corners or going through the motions.

Agreed, and if we don't achieve some success under this regime then I really don't know what we'll do, although there are no guarantees in football.

It also feels that if we are successful, it's being done in a way to try and make it long-term and sustainable rather than the all too brief spell we had  in the early 80s. Not that I'd complain unduly about something similar to that happening in the next few years.

[mallo]

We're in probably the best position we've been in for 40 years - I hope we make the most of it. I think under Emery we've got a great chance. With Spurs and Chelsea imploding timing might be on our side.

[Dick Edwards]

We're in probably the best position we've been in for 40 years - I hope we make the most of it. I think under Emery we've got a great chance. With Spurs and Chelsea imploding timing might be on our side.

We all thought that when Lerner initially took over and O'Neill had been appointed in anticipation.

This does feel very positive though.

[Simon Page]

Although the Villa O'Neill stropped away from was quite a bit better than the one he was welcomed into. Last step is often the hardest.

[Clark W Griswold]

That was a lovely read, thanks.

It would appear absolutely everything we could wish for in terms of actually, genuinely trying to become successful is being done, absolutely no place for cutting corners or going through the motions.

Agreed, and if we don't achieve some success under this regime then I really don't know what we'll do, although there are no guarantees in football.

It also feels that if we are successful, it's being done in a way to try and make it long-term and sustainable rather than the all too brief spell we had  in the early 80s. Not that I'd complain unduly about something similar to that happening in the next few years.

The issue now is that i think the PL is the most competitive in that top half that it's ever been. There are really 8 clubs including us that are all thinking that they could have the resources and the infrastructure to get to the very top. I'm just pleased that it does finally appear that we're going to mix it with those clubs, obviously we'll know more on the 1st of September but if they do have a serious go as it appears that they will then you really can't ask any more than that. Hopefully we'll be more determined and shrewder, maybe even a bit luckier than the rest and we'll come out on top at some point, and as pointed out hopefully we'll be in amongst it for a long period of time.

[Drummond]

We're in probably the best position we've been in for 40 years - I hope we make the most of it. I think under Emery we've got a great chance. With Spurs and Chelsea imploding timing might be on our side.

The situation with those two won't last long.

[Percy McCarthy]

I remember spending years arguing over my prediction of the demise of the hegemony and eternal nature of the ‘top four’. Now we have the ‘big 6’, soon to be 7 with Newcastle. I’m in no doubt with these owners we will make it a big 8.

As I suspected it would, the PL has outgrown the CL to become the world league and we’re going to be major players.

[paul_e]

We're in probably the best position we've been in for 40 years - I hope we make the most of it. I think under Emery we've got a great chance. With Spurs and Chelsea imploding timing might be on our side.

The situation with those two won't last long.

It's tough to know

Chelsea could turn things around pretty quickly but they need to spend a lot of time nad effort sorting the squad out and making it manageable. Another season of struggling in upper mid-table wouldn't be a shock.
Spurs are easier to predict, if Kane does leave as seems very possible I think it'll take them a while to work out how to play without him, he's bene the backbone of their team for too long to be replaced in a single summer.

[Steve67]

Great read and really exciting times.  I'm really looking forward to the transfer window to see what we can do.  Villa sound structured and organised. 

[eamonn]

We're in probably the best position we've been in for 40 years - I hope we make the most of it. I think under Emery we've got a great chance. With Spurs and Chelsea imploding timing might be on our side.

The situation with those two won't last long.

We were in a better position than now for all of the 1990s. All this "the future's bright" stuff, I mean...c'mon lads, we all know it's going to end in disappointment. It's what the Villa do best.