The Villains were set to recruit Barcelona’s director of football but the deal has now collapsed following a u-turn.
Aston Villa’s pursuit of Barcelona director Mateu Alemany has now collapsed as the Spaniard has changed his mind to stay at the club, Fabrizio Romano has explained.
What’s going on with Villa and Alemany?
The highly-rated director of football looked set to join Aston Villa at the end of the season, in what was an ambitious move from the Villains, who offered a financial package which was enough to tempt him away from Barcelona.
The former Valencia director has now changed his mind in a dramatic U-turn following the departure of sporting director Jordi Cruyff and is now set to stay at the Camp Nou.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano revealed the “crazy development”, in a move which could alter Villa’s summer transfer window plans.
“Mateu Alemany has offered himself to Barcelona and to the president Laporta to stay at the club. So he changed his mind,” he stated.
“Mateu Alemany had a very big proposal from Aston Villa. This was almost done, 90% done, but after the verbal agreement, Mateu Alemany never signed that contract at Aston Villa.
“He had the chance to go there, to go to the Premier League with a big budget and work together with Unai Emery, but then he changed his mind, he decided to stay at Barcelona. This would be his priority. He loves the city. He loves the club. And so he changed his mind after talks with Aston Villa.”
“So let’s see how it will continue, but crazy development around the situation.”
How will Villa’s plans be affected?
This sudden development means that Villa may need to quickly find an alternative director who can help them bring in top players during the transfer window, and Emery may feel frustrated given his ambitions with the club as he aims to bring them back to Europe.
Villa were reportedly targeting Barcelona attacker Ferran Torres, and given that Alemany knows the Spain international from his time at both Barcelona and Valencia, he could have heavily assisted in what would have been a statement signing.
Whilst Villa may still be capable of having a productive transfer window, they will need to move quickly to reassess the strategies they may have been planning with Alemany, and any delay to their plans now could see them lose out on their top targets.
It is certainly a development which will frustrate the club, but if managed correctly, they can operate with minimal disruption despite the late timing of Alemany’s decision.
After all, Villa remain in a promising position ahead of the final two games of the season with the prospect of European football potentially offering them an advantage going into the summer window.
