Monchi appears to be playing agent to get manager a job - Aston Villa chief goes public to shower praise

Aston Villa director Monchi is in favour of AC Milan appointing Julen Lopetegui as their next manager.

Stefano Pioli is currently in charge at the San Siro and is likely to part ways with the Serie A side at the end of this season.

The Aston Villa official knows Lopetegui well from his time at Sevilla and Gazzetta dello Sport got in touch with Monchi to find out his views on the Spaniard possibly becoming the new Milan manager.

Monchi spent over four years as the sporting director during his second spell at Sevilla before leaving them for Aston Villa last summer. During his time with the La Liga side, Lopetegui was their manager for over three years between July 2019 and October 2022.

The Spaniard helped Sevilla win the Europa League during the 2019/20 season, where they overcame Milan’s local rivals, Inter Milan, in the final. The Villans director believes his compatriot won’t have issues adapting to Italian football, if he were to end up at Milan.

“Yes. He won’t have any problems because he’s used to working in big teams, and therefore in situations of great pressure and demand,” he said.

“First of all, football is becoming more globalised every day. Then, in Italian football, the tactical aspect is historically of great importance and Julen is a coach who works very well in this respect and who has great playing alternatives both offensively and defensively. I think he can adapt perfectly.”

Gazzetta pointed out to the Aston Villa transfer chief, who had a spell in Italy with AS Roma in the past, that Milan are ‘coming from a difficult moment’.

That just saw Monchi, who appears to acting as a hype-guy for Lopetegui, throw more praise the manager’s way.

“Yes, it can be a complicated moment to take charge of Milan given what has happened in recent months, but Julen has great experience in this aspect too,” Monchi explained.

“When he arrived at Sevilla the club had come from two rather complicated years, and the same happened to him at Wolverhampton, which he took over in a deep crisis and revived. And with the national team he had lifted a struggling environment. Those are three important examples in my opinion. That’s why I think he can be very useful for this Milan team.”