Aston Villa could be set to appoint a new director of football in the coming weeks following a mass overhaul of the club’s recruitment structure, according to the Daily Mail.
The newspaper claim the Midlands giants have paved the way for changes by sacking seven members of their technical staff at their Bodymoor Heath training headquarters on Wednesday morning headed by chief European scout Ian Atkins.
The Mail report new Villa chief executive Christian Purslow is keen to appoint Leicester head of recruitment Eduardo Macia as the new sporting director after pair worked together at Liverpool in 2010.
OPINION
Following the day of the long knives, Villa could be set to make a marquee appointment. Costs have been cut across the board at the club following their failure to secure promotion in May, and the reported series of sackings in the recruitment department shows the overhaul is still incomplete. Steve Round paid the price for Villa’s promotion failure by losing his job as director of football in July. But the club clearly believe it is an important job and one that needs filling with a proven performer if they are to secure promotion at the third attempt. Macia has extensive experience in recruitment at major European clubs after starting out at Valencia, the club he spent his playing days. He then spent four years at Liverpool, where he was reunited with Rafael Benitez, as well as spells at Olympiakos, Fiorentina, Real Betis and Leicester, who he joined in 2016. Would Macia be willing to swap a Premier League club for a Championship one and drop a division? Despite Villa’s clout, that would appear to be open to debate.