Monchi Interview: Post-Villa Reflections
It is strange timing to leave a club when things are seemingly going well. European football secured for a third consecutive season, a world-class manager in place, and the squad improving in both style and substance. For Ramón Rodríguez Verdejo – aka Monchi – though, after what he called a “difficult summer” and a frantic last day of the transfer window, question marks were raised about the mid-term succession planning at the club and their transfer policy. The San Fernando native subsequently left the club.
The former President of Football Operations at Aston Villa has spoken publicly for the first time to Flashscore (who have granted MOMS permission to use quotes) since his summer departure from Villa Park, lifting the lid – in diplomatic fashion – on why his time in the Midlands came to a close.
“There was a consensus on all sides that, after two very successful years, both sportingly and economically, the next step was to consolidate its position in the elite,” he told Flashscore. “We all thought that new faces were possibly necessary and that I could look for new challenges.”
From San Fernando to St Paul’s Square
Monchi, the man credited with revolutionising Sevilla’s recruitment model in the 2000s, has now been deeply rooted in three footballing cultures – Rome, Seville, and Birmingham – each stint bringing a different kind of challenge. But for all the clichés about rainy England and Brummie bin strikes, his memories of Birmingham are surprisingly warm.
“It has been a city that has welcomed me very well,” he said. “I have enjoyed two and a half magnificent years.”
He lived in St Paul’s Square, a short walk from the city centre and within reasonable distance of Bodymoor Heath. The climate, he concedes, took some adjustment.
“On the 20th of August it can be 10 degrees and not 45,” he joked.
The anonymity, though, was welcome. For a man who once became the face of football operations at Sevilla, the ability to move around largely unnoticed had its appeal.
“In Birmingham, I have been able to go out without being recognised. As time went on, I was recognised a bit more.”
A New Role in a Changing Pyramid
Monchi had, of course, worked with Unai Emery before at Sevilla, where he was the sporting director and Emery the coach. In Birmingham, however, the chain of command was reversed.
“At Sevilla, hierarchically, I was above him. In Birmingham, he was the head of the sporting department,” said Monchi.
The structure in England also contrasted sharply with the sporting director-centric model he had known in Spain.
“The figure of the coach is at the top of the pyramid. That doesn’t usually exist in Spain.”
Asked about the difference in working with Emery this time around, Monchi was quick to praise the Villa manager’s development.
“I have found Unai to be much more mature on a tactical and technical level,” he said. “I think that, like everyone else, Unai has evolved and is a more mature coach.”
Villa’s Summer Transfer Window
While Monchi faced a frantic deadline day, much of the summer window had been relatively quiet in terms of actual action, constrained by UEFA’s wage-to-revenue ratio restrictions. He admitted in the interview that transfer interest in Villa players had not necessarily been matched by formal offers.
“There was real interest in Watkins from Arsenal in the January transfer window,” confirmed Monchi. “In the summer market, there had been no formal offer.”
While speculation was rife across the window, it was not just around the England striker.
“There were rumours, but not only for Ollie. Also for Morgan Rogers, for Matty Cash, for Konsa, for McGinn, for everyone,” he said.
“In such an extensive market, in a squad with such good players and who also came from two magnificent seasons, there were no formal offers.”
Essential listening for further insights into Unai Emery & behind the scenes at Villa
Transfers: A Blend of Vision and Chemistry
Monchi’s time at Villa was not without some surprising star turns, especially during the club’s Champions League season. The recruitment of Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio were among the most eye-catching deals in European football – and, in both cases, Monchi admitted that Emery had been central.
“The key was Unai,” Monchi said of the Rashford signing. “He told him: ‘Look, Marcus, I’m sure about you.’ He was able to transmit everything that Marcus needed to hear.”
Asensio, likewise, had long been admired by Emery.
“Before I arrived, they had been very close,” revealed Monchi. “It’s a player profile Unai liked a lot – that number 10 who can play between the lines, who can unite the team, who has an inside pass, who has a goal.”
Monchi, who once unearthed Dani Alves and Ivan Rakitić at bargain prices, was also pleased with Villa’s success in signing Morgan Rogers – a January addition who has since grown in stature, becoming an England international.
“We already had good reports on Morgan. We played against [Middlesbrough] in the FA Cup, and Unai saw him, both before and during the game.”
Monchi explained that Emery saw in Rogers a combination of qualities that could thrive in the Premier League: physical power, versatility, and untapped technical potential.
“Very good physical condition, but also technically,” Monchi said, adding that they had been surprised by how quickly he adapted.
“We saw a potential that, to be honest, was not as much as it turned out to be. We did think he was going to be a player, but the truth is that we have all been surprised – and, fortunately, in a positive way.”
What’s next for Monchi?
For now, Monchi has returned to where it all began — San Fernando, his hometown in Cádiz — to oversee the evolution of the city’s football club, San Fernando CD. A continuation of earlier clubs, the current incarnation was formed in 2009, and it is an entity Monchi hopes to help shape into something with lasting identity and meaning.
“The main challenge was to get the fans on board, to make them feel identified with the project,” reflected Monchi.
The club’s slogan – El club de toda la vida (“the club of a lifetime”) – isn’t just marketing. It reflects his belief that identity and community are the foundation of football.
“This club is going to be whatever the San Fernando fans want it to be,” he said.
His vision goes beyond the pitch.
“We were trying to implement the model of the club, more than the game,” he explained. “A club that is very dynamic, very agile, in which people feel reflected. A club where the people who work do so not because they have a work connection, but because they have a sentimental connection.”
Read the full Monchi Flashscore Interview and original interview video (in Spanish)
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