Aston Villa have appointed Spaniard Jesus Garcia Pitarch as their new sporting director and he has already started in his role by helping the club source a new manager to replace Steve Bruce, according to journalist Laurie Whitwell.
The Daily Mail’s midlands correspondent has claimed on his personal Twitter account that the 54-year-old has arrived at Villa Park and has already joined the club in hunting for their new man in the dugout.
Understand Jesus Garcia Pitarch, formerly of Valencia, has started work at #avfc as sporting director and is involved in process to appoint manager
— Laurie Whitwell (@lauriewhitwell) October 9, 2018
The Spanish figure has previously held sporting director roles at Valencia and Atletico Madrid, as well as a stint in the UAE with Baniyas SC.
Opinion
As well as searching for a new manager, the club were said to be keen to find a new sporting director to fill another void, but it seems as though one piece of work has been completed that should help the other. Pitarch has worked in Spain’s top flight for quite some time and so perhaps will be using his contacts to find someone new to add to the shortlist as Villa continue to hunt for their new manager, although it seems as though he is taking more of a back seat role while the new owners and the rest of the board make the crucial decision as to who they will appoint. Still, having the sporting director’s seat filled is something that they can tick off their checklist and they can now put their full attention to finding a man for the place in the dugout – with the Spaniard’s added help.