Exclusive: Aston Villa to Hire Roberto Olabe in Next 48 Hours to Replace Monchi

Roberto Olabe will be named as Aston Villa's new director of football in the next 48 hours.

The 57-year-old is expected to leave a similar position with Real Sociedad and take over the role vacacted by Monchi late last night.

The former goalkeeper is well-known to Villa boss Unai Emery and will join almost immediately following Monchi's surprise exit.

Monchi Leaves Villa After Two Years

Director of football operations Monchi leaves after little more than two years at Villa Park, where he worked alongside head coach Unai Emery following the duo’s successful spell at Sevilla. He has overseen a raft of ins and outs at the club and was a long-standing colleague of Emery’s.

It is understood that while there had been a few bumps in the road in the relationship between the two that the current poor form has played little part in the decision.

Monchi has been debating this decision for a while - a fact that has enabled Aston Villa to make some progress over appointing his successor. However, any impact will not be immediate as the transfer window is not due to re-open for another three months.

Of more concern ahead of Thursday’s opening Europa League fixture against Bologna is the club’s current form. They have failed to win in five attempts and Matty Cash’s 25-yard strike at Sunderland last Sunday is the club’s only Premier League goal to date.

They now face back-to-back fixtures at Villa Park - against their opponents from Serie A and Fulham on Sunday.

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