Barcelona’s sporting director Mateu Alemany has confirmed that he will ‘stay’ at the La Liga champions after turning down a move to the Premier League with Aston Villa, speaking to Marca.
On a day in which Barca were hit with what is effectively a transfer ban – prevented from signing new players this summer until they can raise nearly £180 million to comply with financial rules – Alemany’s enduring loyalty comes as a welcome boost (Daily Mail).
The 60-year-old’s expertise and experience could be invaluable as the Blaugrana look to sail, once more, through choppy waters.
According to Marca, Alemany rejected the chance to become Aston Villa’s new director of football; a move that would have seen him join forces with compatriot Unai Emery in the Midlands. Villa would have even doubled his wages.
But Alemany, who worked at Real Mallorca and Valencia before arriving at the Camp Nou in 2021, is determined to stick around until his contract expires.
Mateu Alemany turns down Aston Villa to stay at Barcelona
“This is part of the private sphere. (Aston Villa’s interest) is of no great importance,” Alemany says. “But what is certain is that I will stay at Barca.”
Alemany has done what Barcelona president Joan Laporta describes as an ‘extraordinary job’ in Catalonia, helping ease the club’s crippling financial concerns while moving on a whole host of overpaid, underperforming players.
He is, Laporta adds, the ‘architect’ of this Barcelona team. One currently seven points clear of arch rivals Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga table.
“The club is in the best possible hands,” Marseille’s Spanish CEO Pablo Longoria tells EFE. “Mateu is a genius. The most intelligent person of the European football.
“Any club in which Mateu can lead goes to the highest levels. He is genius in management, in reading the small details, in taking important decisions.”
Philippe Coutinho, Samuel Umtiti and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang left Barcelona on Alemany’s watch.
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